Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

15 reviews

hnagarne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Classism, Torture, Suicide, Violence, Death, Misogyny, Addiction, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Racism, Slavery, and War

jo_brekker's review

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

5.0

The chances of you being beaten by a book is low, but never zero.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, War, Violence, Classism, Murder, Grief, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Colonisation, and Blood

Moderate: Torture, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Islamophobia

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Police brutality

jenmcreads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book deserves all of the hype it is getting. I haven't picked up anything similar to this genre-wise in many many years (though now I hope to!), but I have always enjoyed language and thinking about the impossibility of translation, so the idea of this magic system intrigued me.

I am so glad I read this. I think Kuang has masterfully woven in her critiques of colonialism, academia, and academia's service to Empire. The messaging is not subtle, but these are some of the major wrongs of our society, so in terms of scale that did not bother me. I was very impressed by the pacing of this book, which managed to sweep through time when it needed to, but lingered sufficiently to build depth and attachment to the characters. The exploration of intersectionality was nuanced, and I felt Kuang was very honest and rigorous in her exploration of the different experiences these four characters would go through facing the same events. Kuang's ability to distill the essence of complex global challenges into a view concise and moving paragraphs is astonishing at times. I am not typically an annotator but found myself on more than one occasion reaching for a pen. 

The messaging is important, of course, but this is a 500+ page tome, and the message wouldn't get to nearly as many people if the story weren't compelling. The plot is well structured, tense, and exciting throughout (arguable the first half is a bit slow at times, but to me you can always feel the build). 

And then for me, there is the translation based magic system. I loved this, I loved the etymologies (that take is not for everyone I know, but it delighted me). Kuang is clearly a remarkable mind and the level of research here is awe-inspiring.

I don't feel I am able to do justice to my thoughts on this book, but in three words, it is a masterpiece.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Classism, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Slavery

nsaphra's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.0

This is my new favorite magic system! Translator magicians engrave a word and its translation and the effect of the spell is determined by the gap in translation (untranslated ambiguities and connotations). It’s also a dark academia fantasy set in a Victorian alt history, and the plot is about an insurrection against the British empire.

My biggest complaint is actually about the anachronistic dialog, which in a book ABOUT language I’d expect to be more carefully considered. I was repeatedly taken out of the story by characters in 1850 using phrases like “capitalism” and “systemic injustice”. If this turns into a series, I really hope Kuang becomes more committed to historical linguistic accuracy. They don’t have to talk totally Victorian! Just don’t use all these terms that described concepts that hadn’t even been formalized in political writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Child abuse, Bullying, Classism, Drug use, Suicide, Torture, War, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Alcohol, Colonisation, Confinement, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Slavery

some_random_person_hi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

RF Kuang is too good at ripping my heart to shreds

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Classism, Suicide, Grief, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Colonisation, Drug use, Physical abuse, War, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual assault, Ableism, Alcohol, and Deportation