Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

809 reviews

ironicaster's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring 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: Yes

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the first 80% of this novel had me hooked, especially when we first get to Babel -- you really do get to experience this prestigious world that you wished you were a part of until R.F. Kuang reminds you that only a select few will ever belong there.

I related so much to the characters where they're stuck in this limbo between their native countries and a Western country -- you adopt culture but you'll never be one of them, yet you'll also never really fit in with the people from your home country. 

The writing was very textbook-y, which I actually liked because it made sense: Babel is an institute of scholars. Though I do wish we spent a little more time in certain scenes.

More time spent with the rebellion would've been nice, a little too much time was spent on Robin's bouncing between rebelling against the system or conforming to it.

The characters were interesting but could've been fleshed out more -- Griffin and Victoire especially. But they were all realistic

(we've all had a Letty in our lives at some point)

.They all felt their age or as close they could be considering how ridiculously smart they all were. Especially because they're around my age so I actually did feel like I was just reading about my friends if they were geniuses in the 1800s. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Classism, Deportation

shaunack's review against another edition

5.0

dark hopeful reflective 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Classism

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship

jamieintherain's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective 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: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Drug use

jenna36's review against another edition

4.5

challenging emotional inspiring sad 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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This was a beautiful and heartbreaking read. I actually think it would have benefitted from being turned into a series rather than one long book. I simultaneously wanted less and more at the same time. But at the heart of it, R.F. Kuang's writing is always beautiful and she had an important story to tell. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Colonisation

emma_rose_skapetis's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional sad tense 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: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Gun violence, Racism

cassidoo's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark tense 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: Complicated

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Babel was significantly more intense than I expected it to be. When it was recommended to me it sounded like it would be very magical and fantastical in how power is captured into silver. What I didn't expect was the power dynamics, commentary on colonialism, and the violence throughout. It was a good read. It started slow and then got so intense I couldn't put it down for the last ~25% of the book. I do recommend it, but be prepared for themes of racism, colonialism, and violence, rather than... fun and fantastical magical possibilities.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Classism

ida_reads_77's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation

Moderate: Slavery, Death of parent, Sexual harassment

kgatz's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Deportation

spl2d's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark 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: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Grief, Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Violence, Classism

Minor: Slavery

zephy55's review against another edition

2.5

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This was fine. I feel like my main complaint is this is geared towards a (white?) audience unfamiliar or lightly informed on concepts of colonialism, post colonialism, mechanics of empire, racism, and resistance movements. It's readable enough and I was mildly interested on where the characters end up. However, I really wanted Robin to operate more as his own person and less as an insert for the reader. Also, imo this book needed a hard edit down to 300-400 pages. To a reader familiar with the themes, many passages and scenarios felt repetitive. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation