Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

127 reviews

mice_are_nice's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation

Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Torture, Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic

alixlowe's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark sad 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

adriennemrn's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I love the juxtaposition of academic form (ie. footnotes that take up the whole page) with a somewhat epic story about violence and rebellion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence, War, Pandemic/Epidemic

feliscatusnum_1's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

Mentions all things surrounding colonialism after the US independence, Haiti revolution, and during the opium war.

daniellekuhrt's review against another edition

5.0

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, War, Pandemic/Epidemic

delaneybarry's review against another edition

2.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This book seems to be well researched and R.F. Kuang writes skillfully. However, while the story is compelling, it does at times feel like an exceptionally long lecture on etymology and colonization more so than a historical fantasy. The footnotes, a novel in their own right, are also a hefty weight to bear. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic

booksthatburn's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious tense slow-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: Death, Racism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child death, Excrement, Deportation

vitoriaemi's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Reading this book felt like a slap on the face, a punch on the mouth and a kick on the stomach

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, War, Deportation

lizzyjean's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I thought I had cried while reading before. I thought I’d felt the grief and sadness and emotion that the characters were feeling and mourned for them, but the sobbing that took over me while reading Babel was something I’ve never experienced before while reading. I genuinely went through all 5 stages of grief (still working on acceptance) and had to close the book on multiple occasions because I couldn’t bear to read one more word. This book was a beautiful and heartbreaking story, and I cannot recommend it enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Vomit, Gaslighting, Alcohol

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark emotional tense

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Pandemic/Epidemic