Reviews tagging 'Violence'

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

1096 reviews

avery_hutchinson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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 book was beautiful, insightful, and utterly heartbreaking. It brought so many concepts to light through its rich world-building and complex characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: War

Minor: Vomit

applesodaperson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad slow-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

4.0

Geez so this book took me absolutely forever to read. Because right after I started it, I got a bunch of library books that I ended up reading first. But even once I got back into it, it was long. Because it is over 500 pages, and the font size is pretty small. And overall, I did like this book, but there was also a lot that I didn't like.
I unfortunately did not like the magic system in this book, because even after reading 500+ pages about it, it still felt confusing, and just not very cool. It almost felt overly complicated. And holy cow the sections where they were just talking about linguistics and etymology were so mind numbing and boring. It felt like I was there in the lecture with them. And I just wasn't engaged because etymology isn't something I am interested in. 
I liked Robin as a protagonist, because the narrative gave him room to make mistakes and grow, but the side characters all just blended together.
Something this book did really well was its commentary on racism. There was so much nuance around it and the characters all experienced it in different and very personal ways. It was just very well done and impactful, and the setting of 1800's England made it even more intense. Because as bad as it is today, discrimination against people of color was even worse back then. I just liked how significant it was to the story and I feel like I learned a lot.
Overall, this was a good book, but not the best book I have ever read. It did make me want to read more from R.F. Kuang though.
Read a personal copy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Racism

violetaffairs's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Kuang is so clearly an expert on languages and translation and she expertly weaves that knowledge into her work. She effortlessly makes her message clear and keeps her story intriguing and interesting throughout the novel. I am forever changed because I read this book, I will never be able to stop thinking about it. I cannot wait to read more of Kuang's work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, and Violence

elessahr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Colonisation

Moderate: Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gun violence, and Death of parent

feliscatusnum_1's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Mentions all things surrounding colonialism after the US independence, Haiti revolution, and during the opium war.

sarahreadssometimes's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book a lot actually! I think it was very engaging and you can clearly tell how much care Kuang took when researching for this novel. I really enjoyed the characters, and I think the magic system is quite unique. I think it was definitely a step up from The Poppy War and I can’t wait to read her future novels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Misogyny, and Racial slurs

saraverboom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction and Child abuse

eefjeee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Islamophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident

charlie678's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

ow that ending 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence and Torture

my_weird_bookish_heart's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism