Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

115 reviews

dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-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

I can’t even give this book a review. Heartbreaking. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional informative reflective 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

Kuang hasn't disappointed me yet, and this book is no exception. The audiobook was told in a truly captivating way. This book had a slow and detailed progression where each detail built up to a magnificent story that explores colonization and power. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-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

Overall a solid read, there was some amazingly written character work, and the research added a good but of depth to the book. The back half of the book had some issues with feeling artificial, especially the political discussion felt contrived at times, but still had many good parts.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

Devastating. Clever. Awesome. Irritating. Absolutely one of the best books I've ever read. All the possible plot holes and character foibles can't take away from the world building, masterful construction, and conceptual prowess. Achingly confrontational, righteous, and disappointing. I have several critiques (slow start, Letty... Just Letty, Robin was fairly boring, killing off characters, heavy handed ending, anachronisms, some lack of device clarity) but I can't argue with choices that were clearly made thoughtfully, intentionally, to serve and make her point so masterfully. I think this is actually magical realism, not fantasy, and I loved the footnotes. Injected some much needed humor and self-deprecation/meta-commentary. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional informative 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional mysterious 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: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings