Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

54 reviews

lokes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

leedolee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

Words cannot even begin to describe what an experience it was to read this book. 

It was exciting, shocking, and filled to the brim with knowledge about words and languages that I never imagined learning while reading this novel. It was certainly a tough book to read due to various sensitive topics: namely racism, colonialism, and sexism. But it was a reality in the past and is still very much prevalent in the present.

The four main characters are each uniquely different and yet similar in some cases. It was quite the journey being able to experience the world of Babel through Robin's eyes and to cheer him and his friends on as the book progressed. I would highly recommend this as a must-read but also caution any readers who may be triggered by the vast sensitive issues found within the pages of this novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Slavery, Blood, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Islamophobia, and Alcohol

aweekinthelife's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

as a linguist and someone who is particularly interested in the realm of translation, i loved the snippet about translation theory in the beginning and the different languages that are used throughout the book. 

i am endlessly impressed with Kuang's ability to create such immersive and complete worlds and i appreciate her use of fantasy to re-examine historical events and flawed characters that i still love as they navigate the world around them. i personally enjoyed the tidbits that ended up in footnotes. 

while usually data-focused, i rate books by gut feeling and i think i loved the first half more, even though it wasn't as fast paced. i think the slow days paralleled how the characters felt and there were enough "they should've known" asides to hint at what was to come. 

i think Abel was my surprise favorite character - a character who I didn't expect to come back into the story but the good bye between him and Robin got me. I also appreciated getting to hear from all of our main character's backgrounds shaped their perspectives, even if only for a short chapter.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Colonisation

Moderate: Slavery and War

Minor: Alcoholism

aklovekorn's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

yomireads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

... this book destroyed me. It was like trying to explain systemic racism and oppression to an entitled white boy who believes "its all in the past." That feeling? Perfectly distilled. The most frustrated I've felt reading an absolute 5 star read. The magic was unique and perfect for playing with the political dynamic between the colonized world and those it takes advantage of.

Have I had more fun reading a magical realism/fantasy novel? Yes. But was fun and escapism the point of this particular book? Not at all. Don't read if you aren't willing to acknowledge the missteps of history, or feel uncomfy staring white-privilege in the face. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, and Alcohol

tahsintries's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Torture, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Infidelity

xlcior's review against another edition

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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

zoevjester's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Set in 1830's Oxford, with insight to silver trades, opium, translators' guild, and told with full, in-depth characters who shine through the story, and told through a modern lens. Beautifully written, though bitter-sweet in its ending, it is open-ended with the potential for follow-up if wanted. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

criticalbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

rayoftheday's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Murder, and War