Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

1066 reviews

hannahs_library_'s review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Torture

Minor: Death of parent

athenium's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol

donutlookaway's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Murder, Sexual harassment

Moderate: War

chiaralzr's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Classism

paduckling's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Thematically, this is one of the best books I’ve ever read. The use of language as fuel for colonialism is just so brilliant. Kuang is truly brilliant. However, I feel like this book could have been virtually perfect if it had just had some more editing. The pace felt off a lot, particularly in the third act. I absolutely know that Kuang can write compelling scenes and characters but a good amount felt lackluster. The misuse of a few words throughout the book also felt especially glaring considering the novel’s premise. I also felt that trying to write it as an academic book was 1) inconsistent and 2) got in the way of good characterization. The four main characters had such good bones to them but in the end I didn’t find them as compelling as I wanted to. It’s just ultimately disappointing how stunning this book is for many aspects but falls flat in others for me personally.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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I was so pleased to find this lived up to the hype for me. I've never read anything by Kuang before but as soon as I started this I felt like I was in safe hands. Her writing style is so assured and I was immediately hooked. This was a lot more stressful than most of the books I read but it was addictive because of that. The plot is so clever and I loved the focus on language. It felt more like historical fiction than fantasy but I really enjoyed that. The way she used her alternate history to critique the real historical and contemporary issues of colonialism and racism was so effective. I don't think I've read any other books like this and I'm interested to see what her next book is like. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Slavery

cheye13's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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An incredibly crafted piece of literature. The fantasy elements excellently build the perfect world to set off the spark of this story. 

Reading this felt more like historical fiction than anything else. Events and timelines too closely mirrored real history to leave any true hope throughout the story, but it was still heartening to watch the characters try.

Given the synopsis, I had actually hoped for more focus on the language element, more linguistic theory, whether true or invented. Compelling and important novel nonetheless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, War

Minor: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Deportation

leila_reads_too_much's review against another edition

4.25

challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Classism, Deportation

Minor: Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment

thysnotes's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Xenophobia, Murder, War

Minor: Slavery

hwesta's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, Classism

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Sexism, Slavery, Sexual harassment, War