Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

116 reviews

stormeno's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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: Grief, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Racial slurs, Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, and Child abuse

lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I have such mixed feelings on this one!  I am glad I read it, and it's an important story to be told about colonization and appropriation.  But ultimately, I never cared about any of the characters, so nothing that happened to them affected me, and I wanted more.  Even though the magic system is there, it felt so mundane, like it almost doesn't qualify as a fantasy.  I didn't mind the footnotes; however, there were a few instances of character backstory or development tucked away in them, and I thought that was odd.  Definitely should have been in the main text, as I am sure not everyone read every footnote (I didn't), and footnotes seem a strange place for info about characters. I did love all the parts about the languages and the history of the words.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Death, Drug use, Grief, Misogyny, Gore, Murder, Racial slurs, Torture, Abandonment, Addiction, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, War, Colonisation, Genocide, Blood, and Violence

risaleel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense 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: Classism, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Misogyny, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Kidnapping, and Slavery

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicide, Abandonment, Addiction, War, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, and Slavery

Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, and Alcohol

moonystar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Genocide, Torture, War, Addiction, Classism, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, and Racial slurs

lexihworth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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: Torture, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Sexism, Classism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Suicide, Slavery, Murder, Genocide, Violence, Racial slurs, Child abuse, War, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Blood, Colonisation, Death, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicide, Sexism, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Slavery, Xenophobia, Violence, Torture, Sexual harassment, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Misogyny, Infidelity, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Death, War, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Hate crime, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Colonisation, Alcohol, Classism, Alcoholism, Blood, and Bullying

kafkass's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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: Racism, Suicide, Sexism, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Death, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Genocide, Classism, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Child abuse, Blood, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Islamophobia and Blood

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

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

R. F. Kuang is the smartest author I’ve ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Violence, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Vomit, War, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Gun violence, Blood, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

sagema's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Death, Deportation, Genocide, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Violence, Child abuse, Colonisation, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, and Forced institutionalization

doraevarga's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

If you can think in more than one language, this book definitely will make you think even deeper about those languages. It can so many metaphors to today’s society and the way we think and communicate. I cannot imagine the research that went into this book! Absolutely recommend it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Death of parent, Racism, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death, Colonisation, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Slavery, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Murder, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence