Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

285 reviews

monicalaurette's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

I knew from the beginning that I was going to like this book, I just didn’t know how much - and isn’t that a lovely feeling?

Part of me wanted to make this review short and almost like a joke by saying “5 stars, made me feel bad for being white” but truly I never felt bad for being white while reading the book so I also didn’t want to be false in my review. I took more time to look at my privileges as a white woman in the USA and what that meant for me and all those around me.

So many people say that books should not be political or talk about controversial topics, but I think having books like that only enhance a person, even if the book is escapism. If a book helps you to understand your place in the real world, but still offers you a haven from it - I think that makes it an absolutely wonderful book and I don’t know why others don’t see it or refuse to allow themselves that sentiment.

But now back to the book because I’ve gone a slight tangent - sorry!

I loved following Robin and seeing things through his eyes and also the fact that he would acknowledge the challenges of all his cohort as the years went on. I also enjoyed the way that Kuang wrote the divide in Robin’s mind about his feelings for Hermes vs Babel. The struggle he went through was so vivid that at times I was feeling conflicted while reading. I was also feeling stressed out while the cohort was preparing for their exams, so much so that I had to not read those parts at work so I could focus better!

"Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes."

Certain parts of this book happened and I said to myself - this is not a middle of the book event, what else is going to happen now that this has come to pass? - and was just taken on a wild ride for the last like 40% of this book. And that 40% had so much emotions swirling in my head that I rarely took breaks unless necessary.

Very happy that this was my first book by R.F. Kuang and looking forward to my other book of hers on my shelf. And I know that the message and characters of this book will stay with me longer than normal while I move on to other books. The way this book ended I feel was such a testament to the characters and what they all stood for in their hearts and how they knew they could change the world both as a group and individually.

"A mind was not meant to feel this much. Only death would silence the chorus."

I liked Miss Piper and hated Lovell from the start - I’m glad those feelings never changed as the book moved forward.

Honestly thought Evie was also a part of Hermes somehow and not really dead - and I know that I trust Griffin’s version of the story more than Lovell’s on what happened to her with the bar.

Had I not been at work when I read it I would have cheered a little when Robin killed Lovell. He would’ve done something to him either while on the boat or when they returned from Canton so to me it was both self-defense AND revenge for his mother.

Removing .25 stars because of Ramy, and listen: I GET why he had to die, but it just made me so incredibly sad when it happened because I never handle character deaths well.

When Robin & Victoire were talking about the tower burning all I could picture in my head was the burning Elmo meme and I’m so sad I wasn’t able to paste it into my reading journal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Grief, Violence, War, Classism, Hate crime, Racism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and Gore

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Violence, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Torture, Sexism, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Bullying and Confinement

xx_salem's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

The first 200 pages of this book where incredibly difficult to get through, I would put it down for weeks and only get through a couple pages. Reading it made me feel good and intelligent and yet I don’t think I picked up nor absorbed much of the content or the message for the first while. The last 200 pages though were intense and interesting and I couldn’t put it down. The ending was satisfying and made me want a second book so I could watch the fallout, it felt realistic. But I never loved the characters, their deaths meant nothing and I simply couldn’t be attached to any of them. They felt so lackluster and unfeeling, it was really the plot and the intrigue and what thoughts it provoked that made this book good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Misogyny, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, War, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Abandonment, Cursing, Drug use, Racial slurs, Slavery, Gun violence, Body horror, Car accident, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexism, and Toxic friendship

espereads's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, War, Gore, Violence, Sexism, Slavery, Murder, Child abuse, Colonisation, and Gun violence

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Racism, and Religious bigotry

trina8945's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

This book was hard for me to get through being slower paced but it was very much so worth it. I understand why some people thinking about it daily. It’s took me a few weeks to finish and I absolutely thought about its context in my day to day life. R.F. Kuang has done another beautiful job on  a incredible intersectional subject. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Racial slurs, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation

Moderate: Suicide, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic friendship, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual harassment and War

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Babel, but suffice it to say I wasn’t disappointed.

While it was a bit slow and some sections were written in a confusing way, it didn’t overshadow the story being told. Every character felt so vivid and alive, like they had a weight and complexity to them. And this bled into every character dynamic and relationship.

I felt like the themes and messages of the book were well conveyed. Overall it really made me think and reevaluate things I had been taught to just accept and gave a new perspective on history.

It was also written in a very potent way, to the point it felt easy to fall into the story and understand it and the characters. Overall it’s a great book and I highly recommend checking it out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Racism, Sexism, Colonisation, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Drug abuse, Slavery, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Addiction

sweetpersephone's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Fascinating examination of colonisation and living under colonialism through fiction. Anyone interested in how colonisation impacts language would be particularly encouraged to read it. One of the most unique magic systems I've come across. On the negative side, felt that the darker skin characters were under developed which reduced the impact of the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Cultural appropriation, Death, Gaslighting, Medical content, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Violence, Classism, Racism, Emotional abuse, Grief, War, and Torture

Moderate: Drug abuse and Sexual harassment

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

bookshelfmonkey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

 Oh god R.F. Kuang's broken my heart again.

Having read the Poppy War trilogy and sobbed for 30 minutes straight after finishing it, I should have been at least somewhat prepared for this, but R.F. Kuang broke down my emotional walls, got me attached to these characters and invested in their lives and futures and relationships and made me fall a little bit in love with this magical, corrupted, broken world, and then did... that.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcohol, Blood, War, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Torture, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, and Child death

lottie1803's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racism, Colonisation, Classism, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality

lduff1's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Racial slurs, Murder, Slavery, Sexism, Misogyny, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent, Blood, Gun violence, Drug use, and Addiction