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Reviews tagging 'Cursing'
Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang
39 reviews
lokes's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Suicide attempt, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Deportation, Death of parent, Suicide, Slavery, Genocide, Death, Child abuse, War, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Gaslighting, Blood, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, War, Abandonment, Addiction, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Cursing, Hate crime, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Alcohol, Homophobia, and Murder
purplefairygirl22's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
I just- wow.
Moderate: Murder, Islamophobia, Racism, Death, Violence, Cursing, Slavery, Racial slurs, Grief, Drug use, Classism, Death of parent, and Colonisation
elizmoe's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
to that bookstagrammer, whose main gripe with the novel was how all the white characters were flat cartoon villains, just want to say: Abel Goodfellow and Mrs. Piper are RIGHT THERE. not to mention professor craft! pls !!
regarding Letty, (spoiler) yeah she does some really fucked up shit! and up until betraying everyone, the book gives her a lot of grace in terms of portraying her as a complex human who loves her friends and experiences heartbreak and grief ////and also was indoctrinated with white supremacy from birth and therefore will never be able to see her nonwhite friends as fully human in their own right. she even got her own interlude from her POV, where she gets to defend her choices for an entire chapter. the book then goes on to gives her more grace AFTER her betrayal, during Victoire and Robin’s last conversation about her — the line “loving her was like an exercise in hope” continues to haunt me. Victoire wanted so desperately for Letty to see her and respect her Blackness and Haitianness as part of her humanity, and the tragedy of Letty as a character is she never does. she compartmentalizes her friends’ racial/national identities as _separate_from the people she thinks she loves. and then she puts white supremacist colonialist empire before their lives when shit gets real, a well-documented tendency of white women throughout history. tldr; if you think the white villains in this book are all one dimensional or unrealistic, i genuinely don’t think you read this book!
other thoughts: the portrayal of a friend group united by shared academic stress and unhinged desire to succeed? while staying up all night every day eating garbage and losing their minds together? was maybe one of the most viscerally realistic college friend groups i’ve ever read
other !!! things
-the exploration of language was super interesting. it is not a subject i’m well-versed in and i appreciated how it was more than just a magic system, but an actor in the story in its own right
-i liked the footnotes! sue me!!
-i generally really liked the prose
-the audiobook narrators were absolute fire. especially chris lew kum hoi with the bajillions of accents they had to do
-robin? bisexual. definitely in love with rami (probably also had crushes on both victoire and letty at different points) and while i absolutely wanted them to actually get together, i understand why they did not and i respect the choice! even though rf kuang you’re absolutely sick for that face touch the first day they met,
i agree the magic system was maybe a bit underdeveloped but while reading it never really bothered me, however i understand it as a gripe from people who read or write more complex fantasy with complicated and thought-through magic systems.
one more con: i get the complaints about how the existence of silver doesn’t change the 1830s world as we know it, just adds extra flair to the things that actually happened. it would have been interesting to see a more alternate history where this source of power affects the world more comprehensively, but i also kind get why kuang didn’t go that route and instead chose to just use silver/language magic to explore historical british colonialism as we know it.
Graphic: Genocide, Blood, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Death, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Grief, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Slavery, Drug use, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, and War
Minor: Addiction and Deportation
aklovekorn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Colonisation, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, War, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Kidnapping, Torture, Bullying, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Death of parent, Blood, Child death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Cursing, Drug use, and Antisemitism
xlcior's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Addiction, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Hate crime, Slavery, Suicide, War, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia
criticalbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Car accident, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcoholism, Blood, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Deportation, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Chronic illness, Death, Gaslighting, Medical content, Misogyny, Police brutality, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, and Sexism
fozzybookmouse's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and War
macmannwood's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Death, Gaslighting, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Bullying, Drug use, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, War, Racial slurs, Addiction, Hate crime, Misogyny, Suicide, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Torture, and Violence
kaylamoran's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
R.F. Kuang is brilliant. She has a unique way of writing books that fuck me up. I'm gonna be in a funk for a while after this one. I don't know what to say without spoilers, but everything hurts.
As a white reader, Letty's character forced me to look at myself and feel some uncomfortable feelings. I think that's another great strength of this book.
All in all, absolutely recommend. This book is phenomenal, and devastatingly painful. It's everything I've come to love from R.F. Kuang.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Racial slurs, Suicide, War, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual harassment, Child death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Cursing
Minor: Slavery