Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

196 reviews

tarasoraptor's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Classism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Torture, Violence, Drug use, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Death, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Addiction, Grief, Gun violence, and Murder

em_of_swags's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

wow this book destroyed me ok.

what a powerhouse of a read, a love letter to languages, translation and research, while simultaneously criticizing so in depth the way academia is linked with privilege and imperialism. much to think about.

but also there's a huge list of trigger warnings so don't disregard those.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, Torture, Hate crime, Colonisation, Drug use, and Racism

Minor: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Suicide, War, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Genocide, and Islamophobia

samick23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is probably one of my favorite books I have ever read. I also don't know when I'll be able to handle reading it again. I know I want to but I am devastated. You should read this book, it is incredible. R. F. Kuang's world building never ceases to amaze. Equally so her ability to let you live and breathe in the world and really make you feel like you understand it moments before she pulls the rug out from under you. I am equal parts in mourning and in love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Racism, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Abandonment, Genocide, Colonisation, Torture, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Classism, and Grief

saythename's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, War, Death, Suicide, Murder, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, Slavery, and Islamophobia

legendarycai's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

the writing and content was phenomenal. there were so many paged i tabbed and quotes that moved me. it touches so many important topics and i loved how i really felt like i was learning more about languages and people and history. the pacing was NOT it for me. i was asleep half the time when reading, but the writing was so good....i had to keep reading. also maybe i should research content warnings before i read bc.... LOL THE ENDING. anyway content warnings are so mid...i like a surprise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Slavery, Murder, Gaslighting, Torture, Islamophobia, Hate crime, Genocide, Colonisation, Suicide, Racism, Racial slurs, Classism, and War

finn_1312's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Grief, Sexism, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Gun violence, Colonisation, Racism, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Hate crime, War, Slavery, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Islamophobia

millerkg9's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

Easily one of the most important books ever written. Kuang managed to convey the intersecting dangers and conflicts of various types of privilege clearly without being patronizing or repetitive, making this an impressively valuable read for anyone, regardless of background. The characters and world building are carefully, beautifully constructed, and the plot and pacing are basically perfect. Absolutely brilliant, in every conceivable way. 

Only complaint I really have is that we don’t actually see the repercussions of

Babel falling.

They’re strongly implied/theorized of course, but I would’ve like to see them on the page. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Grief, Xenophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Racial slurs, War, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Death, and Classism

Moderate: Deportation and Alcoholism

forced deportation is explicitly and implicitly threatened throughout the novel, but not actually acted upon as far as I remember.

mishasbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Hate crime, Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Racial slurs, Slavery, Child abuse, Colonisation, Drug use, Bullying, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Islamophobia, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, and War

bobaduckie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, Sexism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Xenophobia, Torture, Colonisation, Hate crime, Gore, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Blood, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, and Slavery

Minor: Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Islamophobia, and Cultural appropriation

Spoilers ahead: Betrayal because

Letty shoots Ramy and turns Hermes in

amyvl93's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.0

Babel and RF Kuang as an author generally has been all over social media for the past year, and I finally had to jump on the bandwagon - and I'm really glad I did. Babel follows Robin, a young man pulled from his home in Canton by a professor at a speculative 1800s Oxford to study at the famed Babel Translation Institute. There he meets his fellow students Ramy, Victoire and Letty and they become swept up in Babel and it's famed silver-making. However, when Robin is contacted by the mysterious Hermes Society, he begins to understand that Babel stands for more than just language for its own sake.

Knowing a bit about colonialism but nothing about linguistics, I found a lot of the content of this novel to be very interesting. I know some have critiqued Kuang for not adding anything 'new' to the conversation, but just shining a light on the way languages are connected was of great interest to me - and by extension I could understand how the Babel scholars could be sucked into this world of language and the power that it holds. 

I did find the world building overall to be a mixed picture - Oxford, Babel as an institution and Canton as a location all felt incredibly drawn. It almost feels strange to know that the Babel tower is not a fixture at Oxford; and the descriptions had me picturing the mini-series adaptation in my head. That being said, I found the fantasy or speculative elements to be a little less well developed. I couldn't always quite get a grip on how silver had truly created a difference between the British Empire depicted in the novel, and the British Empire as it is existed in reality. It also felt like we got an awful lot of exposition as if Kuang occasionally forgot herself about the fantasy elements and had to remind us all that they existed. The fantasy of it all comes to the fore more in the final parts of the novel, but I almost feel like the translation element could have been enough in itself. The comparison to Philip Pullman in some reviews had me expecting a little more in world building, especially as this is marketed as an Adult fantasy (which I also think is somewhat unnecessary, and that younger readers could definitely enjoy this too).

Character-wise, the central quartet felt fully realised. Robin, Ramy, Victoire and Letty were all characters I cared about, was frustrated by and their individual journeys all felt authentic (if at times rather heavily signposted). The side characters did at times feel a little more one-dimensional, and there to serve representative points; but that didn't make them any less impactful on the narrative as it unfolded.

So depsite that wobbly word-building, I really enjoyed Babel and look forward to reading more of Kuang's writing in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Racism

Moderate: Violence, Islamophobia, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent