Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang

116 reviews

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

ewalkergrace's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

melancholymegs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

cheye13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

3.0

An incredibly crafted piece of literature. The fantasy elements excellently build the perfect world to set off the spark of this story. 

Reading this felt more like historical fiction than anything else. Events and timelines too closely mirrored real history to leave any true hope throughout the story, but it was still heartening to watch the characters try.

Given the synopsis, I had actually hoped for more focus on the language element, more linguistic theory, whether true or invented. Compelling and important novel nonetheless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, and War

Minor: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Deportation

carina_dreamer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

Rating🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 + my heart

• Let me start by saying that I'm not a person that re-reads books (only if it has been close to 10 years), but I could make an exception for Babel.
This was such a masterpiece that I know I haven't grasped all of it on this first try!

• Basic summary: It's historical fiction because it happens in the 1800s during the British empire
(so we have colonialism and racism, it's after slavery has ended *but not in terms of white mentalities & supremacy*, women don't study, etc.).
It's magical realism & dark academy because Babel is a tower in Oxford where academics study translation to help the Empire deal with the colonies and on the 7th floor they do what seems like magic... They engrave silver bars with one word in English + the equivalent in another language = to magical enhancements to objects or environments.
Overused languages have weakened the effect on silver so they decide to snatch some native kids from colonies, instruct them in the Englishman ways, and make them study to prepare for Babel and in the future work for the Empire.
That's what happens to the group that we follow throughout the book.

• I wanted to try RFK writing through this standalone first before the Poppy War (cause I buy entire series from the go 😅) and it's marvellous!
It seems like a classic, but without the excessive adjectives that can make me fall asleep. It can be a little overwhelming in the beginning cause it's a slow start and we are as lost to the plot as poor 7-year-old Robin is.

• The character development was what made this book for me.
It spans for like 10 years and my view from the start to the end shifted together with the characters. They started scared, innocent, and mesmerised by the grandeur of Babel - A little found family in their solitary upbringing - but they discovered there's so much more going on around them.

• I studied translation and what I learned is actually discussed during the classes in Babel, which made de experience even more enjoyable! Also, my language nerdy side got a field trip with this book! 😍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

songbiirds's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

Absolutely adored this book it made me sob and ache and feel so sad but also so hopeful, I love the way RF Kuang writes, its truly incredible how she has created such an amazing world and brought it to life. I will buy any book she writes because of how amazingly she creates stories, Im rambling now because I just finished the book and Ive been crying but I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Dark Academia its so, so good 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Confinement, Death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Murder

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

maddiebusick's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Alcohol, and Deportation

lucy_shanners's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Medical content, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

Babel rocked me to my core, and left me reading for 5 hours straight until 2am because I couldn't stop and just needed to finish it. R. F. Kuang is a brilliant literary genius and I don't know how she could break my heart this many times in one book and then set it on fire with the flames of revolution and expect me to be okay at the end. Everything about this story enraptured me. The immense amounts of research that you can feel went into it, the incredibly detailed magic and world-building that still closely mimics real life, the nuance and depth of colonial discourse and how it feels to actively participate and benefit from it as a person of color, the setting of academia and ways in which research and higher education contributes and sustains imperial power, the layered and flawed and beautiful realness of the characters, the academic writing and footnotes that make you feel like you are actually reading a history book, and the devastating plot moments that will leave hauntingly gorgeous quotes stuck in your head for days. This is a new all-time favorite book for me, it is truly amazing how much Kuang captured in one book and how this story left me both broken and emotionally devastated as well as completely awed and profoundly satisfied. What a stunning piece of literature, I have truly read nothing else like it.

"That's just what translation is, I think. That's all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they're trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism