Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

82 reviews

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Deportation, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Child death, Confinement, Hate crime, Misogyny, Violence, Abandonment, War, Racial slurs, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Grief, Islamophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Trafficking

crybabybea's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

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

2.0

Well, I'm disappointed.

First of all, the dark academia aspect was done very well. It felt atmospheric, grand, with a hint of mystery. It felt gloomy in a really fun way. The settings outside of the tower itself were less immersive, but the majority of the story takes place inside the tower anyway so it wasn't too distracting. The dark academia vibe was a genius way to explore a story about decolonization and racism. The magic system was inventive and interesting, and I liked how it stood as a metaphor for the industrial revolution.

The characters were just okay. We get to see Robin, the main character, the most, and I felt really attached to him by the end. The other characters had interesting stories that I felt didn't get explored enough. I understand this book leans in to its literary side, and the characters and arguably the entire plot are just allegories for bigger issues, but I think this made the character work suffer and it made the explosive ending pack less of a punch. Don't get me wrong, I loved the ending, and I still cried, but some of the other moments that were meant to be heavy-hitting fell flat because I didn't feel the connection to the characters. The found family aspect didn't feel fleshed out enough because of this as well.

I think the character work is a side effect of Kuang's tendency to overexplain things rather than actually have things happen. Some of the messaging was so on the nose that it felt pedantic and almost condescending at times. I wanted to read this book to challenge my thinking, and I hoped it would leave me with lots of thoughts to reflect on afterward, but everything gets explained to you so plainly that it completely ruins the amazing research and work Kuang put into telling the story of racism and colonization in academia. I mean, there were literally times when something racist or sexist would happen, then the narrator would have a whole paragraph to say something like "Robin wonders if this white person realized how racist they were being". It got irritating... I felt like I was on Sesame Street. I will say the writing itself was done very well, the prose was accessible despite the scientific, historical, and literary references used, and I appreciated a lot of R.F. Kuang's comments and her sarcastic footnotes.

The last issue is the pacing, which I think is also a side effect of this "telling not showing" issue. This book only gets good around the 60-70% mark. It had an extremely slow start with very little intrigue. We spent a long time in lectures and I felt not enough time was dedicated to furthering either the charcters OR the plot. It was a lot of sitting around and waiting. I don't mind books that have a hill into a snowball second half, but I almost put this book down multiple times because nothing was happening, then one minor action would happen and I would finally think we were going somewhere, just for it to slow down again. 

All these issues made for a really weird reading experience where I absolutely dreaded picking the book back up, then when I started reading it was just fine and I wanted to know more, then it would get boring and the cycle repeated. I expected more from the rave reviews but left feeling like its potential got wasted. I still do think it's a good read overall, but it could have been better. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Addiction, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Violence, Torture, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, War, Xenophobia, Death, Vomit, Murder, Drug abuse, Sexism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Blood, Death of parent, Drug use, and Genocide

celery's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Misogyny, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Trafficking, Vomit, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Slavery, Drug abuse, Gore, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Self harm, Abandonment, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Deportation, Medical trauma, Drug use, Emotional abuse, War, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Confinement

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.

---

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

em_of_swags's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

wow this book destroyed me ok.

what a powerhouse of a read, a love letter to languages, translation and research, while simultaneously criticizing so in depth the way academia is linked with privilege and imperialism. much to think about.

but also there's a huge list of trigger warnings so don't disregard those.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, Torture, Hate crime, Colonisation, Drug use, and Racism

Minor: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Suicide, War, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Genocide, 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.
 

---

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

mishasbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Hate crime, Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Racial slurs, Slavery, Child abuse, Colonisation, Drug use, Bullying, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Islamophobia, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, and War

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

---

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

bobaduckie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, Sexism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Xenophobia, Torture, Colonisation, Hate crime, Gore, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Blood, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, and Slavery

Minor: Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Islamophobia, and Cultural appropriation

Spoilers ahead: Betrayal because

Letty shoots Ramy and turns Hermes in

chalkletters's review against another edition

challenging 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? No

3.75

Babel has been an extremely hot topic at book club since it came out, and we've just been waiting for the paperback before we put it on our reading lists. I knew the main conceit going in: that Babel's magic system relies on the difference between similar words in different languages; whatever meaning of the word is left untranslated, manifests as physical reality. As a speaker of only one language, the magic system felt about as distant to me as any other magic system I can't participate in (which is to say, all of them!) but the themes of moving country at a young age are definitely ones I'm appreciative of.

R F Kuang's world building is amazing: not only is there a whole magic system grafted onto historic Oxford, there's detailed interplay between real-world history & empire and the fictionalised versions based on acquisition of silver. Even more impressive, the world is explained clearly enough for readers to follow without getting bogged down in masses of extraneous detail. While parts of the novel are necessarily exposition-heavy, it never seems to slow things down.

Despite the vastness of the world, Babel is peopled with relatively few characters: a class size of only four students in a year at Babel seems to be perfectly normal. This allows R F Kuang to focus tightly on the interpersonal relationships between the four main characters, though there's a lot going on under the surface that there's never quite time to bring to light and explore fully. R F Kuang trusts the reader to connect the dots and make their own inferences, but readers who prefer character-driven novels over plot-driven novels may wish there wasn't quite so much left unsaid.

Fortunately, the plot driving Babel is a gripping one, especially once the four students travel to Canton. It's not too much of a spoiler to say that the latter half of the story had intense The Secret History vibes, albeit with a more overt political and class struggle undermining the main action. R F Kuang's descriptions of Oxford also rival Donna Tartt's for atmosphere, though the mood captured is very different in each. 

It's a treat to kick off the year with a book that's firing on all cylinders. The only thing I can find to criticise is very much based in personal preference: early on, Babel seems like it will be a book about found family and friendship, which I love, and it does contain those things, but not in an uncomplicatedly positive way. The ending absolutely fits the novel, but perhaps doesn't entirely fit me as a reader.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Death, and Suicide

Minor: War, Slavery, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Murder