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justmys's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Kuang’s level of intelligence and brilliance surrounding etymology and translation and her immense skill at bringing issues that are still horrifyingly prevalent in the world to the forefront of the story through a powerful lens were a true gift to read and will be staying with me for a long time to come.
And that’s where my 2.75 stars go. That side of this novel was an astounding piece of work. Unfortunately, the rest of the book had to be consumed alongside it.
I was told that the beginning of this book is slow. For me, the beginning ended up being the first 328 pages. And this is a heavy read to begin with.
I found all of the characters within the book shallow and underdeveloped. So much of their lives and interactions were glossed over. Flashbacks or explanations for their behaviour and decisions were often sewn into the book through footnotes giving them the feeling of an afterthought. I spent the entire time wishing this book would have been at least a duology so as to have given room for us to actually get to know the characters as people, and not just awkward stunted players in a black box theatre production.
The main female characters, Victoire and Letty, were often left T-posing in the corner of scenes, utterly forgotten in place of their male counterparts. When they were used (which was woefully little) they either felt like the author didn’t know their character (as with Victoire) or were an absurd cartoonish creation (as with Letty).
Despite the overall themes being interesting I did feel like I was being smacked over the head with the book at times whilst being asked, “Do you get it? Do you understand? Do you even comprehend yet?” which got exhausting because I don’t think I’m as stupid as this book thinks I am.
This book would have been so much more interesting if the lectures had been edited down somewhat in order to give room for character exploration. I’m certain the characters could have been truly loveable if they had been allowed to exist outside of a 2D space. I said to friends that this book had scope to be up there with Six of Crows or Lies of Locke Lamora if only the characters that inhabited the world were given the same love and detail as the world was.
I do want to give this author another chance so will likely read more of her work in the future. There were so many moments where I was sure I could have fallen in love with her writing if only given more to work with.
Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Racism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Torture
Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Addiction, Deportation, Gun violence, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Torture
passionatereader78's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Classism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and War
corvidreads's review against another edition
4.5
Moderate: Torture, Child abuse, and Racism
aliyachaudhry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rip ramy mirza you would have loved comedy specials
rip griffin lovell you would have loved action movies
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Racism, Torture, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Death, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Addiction, War, Sexism, Slavery, and Misogyny
_lazyreader_3565's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Blood, Murder, and Racism
Minor: Slavery, War, Gun violence, and Torture
lillianreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I can definitely appreciate the message R.F. Kuang is trying to convey and I liked the discussion of colonialism, the empire etc. But the story felt too much like a lecture at times and the description of the silverworking was very confusing and went on for too long in my opinion. The way the story is told made it really hard to connect to the characters and made them feel kind of surreal. That got better towards the end but it couldn't make up for the distance created in the beginning and middle.
All in all, I think R.F. Kuang might just not be for me but I can still appreciate the story of Babel and how it handles the topic of racism, colonialism, slavery etc.
Graphic: Gun violence, Torture, Racism, Violence, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Suicide, War, Sexism, and Death of parent
moanareads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicide, Slavery, War, Colonisation, Racism, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexism, Murder, Death of parent, and Child abuse
devirtualized's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Sexism, and Torture
awildeasriel's review
- 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
Moderate: Racial slurs, Violence, Torture, Child abuse, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Death, Racism, Misogyny, Murder, and Slavery
Minor: Grief, Alcoholism, Classism, and Religious bigotry
savvy999's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Xenophobia, Murder, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Colonisation, and Racism
Moderate: Islamophobia, Slavery, and Torture