Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

211 reviews

alisonvh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

This book is so good and so well written! Although my first instinct is to say the author doesn’t give people enough credit for their capacity for empathy, I can’t deny that white people don’t have a great track record when it comes to empathy for people of color. In that way the book is similar to Power, which I loved. I’m going to have to sit with this one for a while before I can determine how I feel about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

butterfly_seraph's review against another edition

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and War

martinj's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Blood, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Islamophobia, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

krows_ink's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

"A permanent dialogue with oneself and an increasingly obscene narcissism never ceased to prepare the way for a half delirious state, where intellectual work became suffering and the reality was not at all that of a living man, working and creating himself, but rather words, different combinations of words, and the tensions springing from the meanings contained in words." - Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, Transcribed by Dominic Tweedie.

Initially, when I picked up Babel I didn't think that I would like it nearly as much as I do now that I have finished. There is something hauntingly beautiful and soul-wrenching contained in these pages. The world feels real because it mostly is. The characters are deeply flawed - each one of them. The writing is exceptional and the use of language use is so profound that I cannot seem to comment on it. Truly, most of my words (ironically) seem to have escaped me even almost 24 hours after completing the novel.

R.F. Kuang's commentary on imperialism and colonialism is incredibly well crafted. Not to mention her exploration of internalized oppression, white supremacy culture, and white feminism. While some may state that the commentary or exploration of these themes felt heavy-handed, I cannot bear to agree. I believe that there are times to be blatant about what you mean and this novel is a perfect example. However, it is not without nuance and room to explore. I will be rereading this book, possibly later this year.

The rest will be marked as spoilers because there are some things I cannot express without possibly delving into the book's later sections.

R.F. Kuang's use of parallels and mirroring of previous scenes in the book blew me away. Everything surrounding Ramy and Robin broke my heart. Not to mention Victoire's backstory and how she was orphaned and the relatability of that to Robin's backstory. To say that I am heartbroken after reading this book is an understatement. A piece of me almost simply wrote "I am empty inside". However, that would be a disservice to this book.

The final scene. The final scene took my breath away. I was a sobbing and incoherent mess as I read it, blabbing nonsense as I broke down all over again reading "She smiles. She says his name." I couldn't have ended Robin's story better. The use of present tense? Amazing. Bringing it back to the first chapter - to the first scene? Heartbreaking. I was so engrossed by these last chapters and felt numb and empty after reading them. Truly one of my new favorites which I consider difficult to earn the title of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Suicide, Medical content, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Slavery, Islamophobia, and Sexual harassment

paduckling's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Thematically, this is one of the best books I’ve ever read. The use of language as fuel for colonialism is just so brilliant. Kuang is truly brilliant. However, I feel like this book could have been virtually perfect if it had just had some more editing. The pace felt off a lot, particularly in the third act. I absolutely know that Kuang can write compelling scenes and characters but a good amount felt lackluster. The misuse of a few words throughout the book also felt especially glaring considering the novel’s premise. I also felt that trying to write it as an academic book was 1) inconsistent and 2) got in the way of good characterization. The four main characters had such good bones to them but in the end I didn’t find them as compelling as I wanted to. It’s just ultimately disappointing how stunning this book is for many aspects but falls flat in others for me personally.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jennalwiegand's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-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? No

4.0

This book grabbed my heart and stomped it on the ground.  Because I had a hard time getting into the book initially, it was slow going, and I wasn't sure how I was initially going to feel. But I was really intrigued by the character and really wanted to see everything through. This book has a massive build-up, and then shit hits the fan pretty dang quickly in the last hundred or so pages.

From the moment Robin kills his dad, to the end I went from having my white privilege called out, and the story of a group of found family kiddos, to rebellion, murder, suicide, explosions etc. The ending felt very much like Rogue One, where basically everyone dies at the end, and I was truly not expecting it.

. The writing is beautiful, I honestly was pulled into the world when I was reading it, and even felt myself googling things in the book to see if they were real places. This truly read like a biography of a magic group, versus historical fiction with a dash of magic, and I really appreciated all of the aspects it gave in that regard. I honestly just wish it was faster-paced, and I would have liked it a lot more! This book did an amazing job of making me think, and actually forcing me to take my time to digest everything on the page. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

soph22's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation

lauragarabedian's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

jakepasseri's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

Holy shit ive never had a book break me like this one. Knocked it out of the park. Was hooked from every page. Only thing stopping it getting five stars was that some plot points were predictable but this was maybe a couple of times and doesnt diminish my appreciation of this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Slavery, and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Islamophobia, and Alcohol

kafkass's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Blood, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Blood and Islamophobia