Reviews

Babel by R.F. Kuang

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esmejayne's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i genuinely can’t put into words how blown away i am by this masterpiece

rebecca kuang is the most talented author of the 21st century and i’ll die on that hill

can’t believe i have read all five of her works and have to wait until next year for her next book

BABEL, you were perfection

fatimareadsbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

R.F. Kuang does it again. I am not okay.

snowden64's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

matt_worthen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Kuang’s prose, world building, and creative magic system is amazing in Babel! It was these factors alone that compelled me to push through what was a little bit of a slow start. Eventually all of our main characters emerge and the story picks up a bit. I will admit though, that even with this I still found something missing. Even though the characters and their relationships were beautifully and deeply developed, I still felt like I wasn’t connecting with them. As I was reading, I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t loving Babel more than I did. Then, suddenly, in the final 3rd of the novel everything clicked. All of these threads Kuang had laid throughout the novel came together in a way I hadn’t foreseen and I was in love with this book. I feel in love with the characters, found myself heart wrenched and crying over their story, rooting for them, and left speechless on the edge of my seat. For me, this did not become a 5-star book until the end, but it was worth the wait.