Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

196 reviews

shelvesofivy's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Drug use

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

The scholarship behind this book is astounding. I wish I knew a quarter of what Rebecca Kuang knows about languages and history. 

Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy for her to impart that knowledge and the first third of the book is too didactic. The story speeds up considerably when we’re focused on Robin and his cohort, and their scholarly exploits. 

I was repeatedly surprised that offhand comments about people and events were based on what had actually happened. The merchants in Canton, the Chinese commissioner, the 20,000 barrels of opium (without quite as much theater) - all were true. The Rebecca Riots, Peterloo - all repeated instances of England crushing the lower classes. And all the etymologies were real, nothing made up to fit the plot. 

I really liked this book and am looking forward to reading The Poppy War trilogy sometime. For alternate histories, this one is superb. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

ophillya's review against another edition

4.0

holt shit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

alisonvh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is so good and so well written! Although my first instinct is to say the author doesn’t give people enough credit for their capacity for empathy, I can’t deny that white people don’t have a great track record when it comes to empathy for people of color. In that way the book is similar to Power, which I loved. I’m going to have to sit with this one for a while before I can determine how I feel about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

dragonwriter's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Welcome to an alternate Victorian England, where magic is bound in silver, comprised of a "matched pair" of words, words translated into two languages to accurately capture the intent of the spell. Meet Robin Swift, born in Canton, China, but brought to England by his British Guardian, raised specifically to be a translator and silversmith, to continue the British Empire through the magic of silver. He's kept fairly isolated growing up, focused on his studies in Latin, Greek, English, and Mandarin, Robin makes no real friends until he is sent to Oxford and put in the Babel program, where he will be trained to find matched pairs. His cohort of peers are Remy, from India, Victoire from Haiti via France, and Lettie, the pretty daughter of an British Admirable. Robin slides into this group fairly easy, forming a fast friendship with Remy, but when he bumps into Griffin Harvey, his perspective on the world starts to shift. Griffin is his older half brother, the son of the professor who raised him. who was pulled from China too early to be truly useful to the professor and was thus discarded when he could no longer serve his purpose. Pessimistic about the world, Griffin is still determined to undermine the British Empire in every way he can, stealing silver and resources from Babel itself and forming a society he calls "Hermes" to prevent further colonization of the world. At first, Robin joins Hermes as a way to get to know his brother and gain the family he never really had, but when Griffin asks him to help with a particularly violent mission, Robin backs out, not wanting to hurt anyone. Griffin allows this and disappears from Robin's life, letting him fall back into being just a student, and forming deep and lasting friendships with his cohorts -- until he discovers that Victoire and Remy have also joined Hermes. Things truly come to a head when the cohort discovers that Babel professors are purposefully poisoning China with opium and pushing for war, all so that England could maintain its superior silver stores and national pride in itself. Then, Robin is forced to stop standing on the fence and pick a side.

There was a slow but beautiful build of the plot. It really let you get to know the workings of this world that is so close to ours and see through the eyes of those fighting for equality in a white-ruled world. Large sections of the book read like college lectures on magic and etymology, and quite honestly, those were my favorite parts! This book really showed the struggles BIPOC face day to day, as well as how little the government cares for its working class people. It also makes a powerful argument that the repercussions and collateral damage of a strike should lie with those in power, and not those asking the power to stop the injustices they suffer. 
I highly recommend this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Gun violence, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

wad3mil3sgarru2's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Religious bigotry and Toxic friendship

one_more_chapter96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

4.25

Incredibly written, researched and crafted - I felt like I was reading a university paper (but the most interesting and creatively written one ever, so not in a bad way!). There were so many heart warming and familiar moments in the story from the main cohort’s time as students at Uni that brought a lot of nostalgia. There were also a lot of really deep, soul aching points made (sometimes inadvertently) around race, religion, gender and morality that didn’t feel overbearing but were so impactful to read. This book was awe-some really. Quite dense on the foundation / character gilding to begin with but still interesting. Once you hit the 65% mark it all kicks off and is a whirlwind! I laughed, I definitely cried and I am in awe of this story. So heartfelt and introspective whilst being so interesting to learn about the world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and War

Minor: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

There are a lot of triggering subjects covered in this book but they are based in historical contexts and explained from the perspective of those suffering them as part of a systemic classist and racist society under the rule of the British Empire. I think it is dealt with very well and whilst painful at times to read, it makes sense for the characters and is necessary for the story.

chiaralzr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

melancholymegs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

hwesta's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Sexism, Slavery, Sexual harassment, and War