Reviews with content warning for Racism - Babel: An Arcane History

I finished this book during class and could BARELY hold myself back from crying.

While Babel took me quite long to get through, I really enjoyed it. I really loved the cohort, though I would have wished for their relationships to be a little more fleshed out here and there. I could believe that Robin would die for Ramy no doubt - but the boys didn't seem as close to the girls and vice versa.

Anyhow, its safe to say that Letty's betrayal WRECKED me.

Kuang is really good at writing morally grey characters. Letty will do all those horrible things and then her intermission comes and you're like... Oh. That's why. And it doesn't excuse her shooting one of her friends or being the way she is, but it makes you understand and somewhat emphasize with her.

I found the footnotes that explain things that are relevant to the story, both fictional and (mainly) real to be pretty cool - it allows you to understand the story and what was happening on an even deeper level.

Babel is a very important book, in my opinion, that should be read by everyone (especially white people). It's so much more than a dark academia book, or a fantasy book.

Content Warnings

snugglor's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A really enjoyable critique of colonialism and cultural theft, parcelled in the easily digestible form of fiction. I loved this story and couldn't read it fast enough.

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emmas_reads_'s review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

did i cry? absolutely.

did that make this book better? not really. (please don’t kill me)

let me preface with this: babel is such an important book for me, especially as a white woman, to read. and i’m glad i did. i think every white person should read this. a lot of it felt like colonialism and imperialism 101, but there were perspectives that i appreciate reading from, especially the difference between violent resistance to oppression and revenge (and if there’s any at all).

all of my problems with this book are purely technical - writing, characters, and pacing.

r f kuang’s writing: i found a lot of it a bit amateur-ish, there was a lot of infodumping on how the british empire functioned with the silver rather than industry. some of it felt natural, but i’d suddenly realize that i was being infodumped on. it was a jarring experience. i felt a lot of the foreshadowing was obvious, but that also could be on purpose and i didn’t pick up that subtext. i don’t think her writing style is for me - however she makes writing about grief her BITCH, and i love her for it.

the characters: i actually really appreciated these characters. sometimes they felt like the preachy twitter user engaged in race and colonialism discourse (which was also a weird aspect to the writing style of this book). i think they are all (minus letty) good representations of being raised within a privileged society yet experiecing racism and being molded as tools for furthering the colonization of their countries.

pacing: it was a bit odd. i saw someone say it should’ve been two books, and i’m a little inclined to agree. the first 3 parts of this book should’ve been a first book, to build up to the action of a sequel (the last 2 parts of this book).

extra misc. stuff:

armed/violent resistance is so, so important to learn about. as much as we preach “nonviolent protests,” so much of historical revolutions and decolonization (which is still ongoing) was armed resistance. it’s important to understand the buildup to violence because it happens over, and over, and over again - it’s literally on loop as we speak.

also: robin and ramy were so in love, i’m happy i got surprised by a bit of LGBTQ+ (it is pride month). if anyone needs scenes/quotes for evidence, i will provide.

Content Warnings

emviolet's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

meg_thebrave's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful 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

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would. What an absolute masterpiece. Not for a moment could I predict what would happen. I am unwell, and I have read one of the best written books in this century. I cannot wait to return to this story again and again and again.

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balletbookworm's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

Made the absolutely ROOKIE mistake of finishing the final 5% of this audiobook in the car on the way to work.

Wrecked. Completely wrecked. My babies. I love how this is baaaarely fantasy. Like, that's the gateway to this incredible disquisition about colonialism and exploitation.

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