Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang

196 reviews

smiley_ari's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

It was a great read!

 Could have been 5 stars but there were periods where I felt it dragged a little, and at times the writing felt very “hand holding” and repetitive when talking about the various characters and their experiences with colonization. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Racism, Gun violence, Colonisation, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Torture, Islamophobia, and Violence

Minor: Slavery

gbeene's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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: Death, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Violence, and War

Minor: Suicide, Abandonment, Sexism, Torture, Toxic friendship, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

alainral's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Racism, Xenophobia, and Child abuse

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

broken_biscuits's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

As a political thought piece, great. As an actual story, a little rough. While the magic system was *so* cool, I was a little disappointed in the character writing. Still felt like a worthy and important read. I feel like it did a lot of telling the reader how to feel about things, which kind of took me out of the experience, even though I agreed with what I was "supposed to feel." I didn't feel hardly any connection to the characters, since they felt like they were created to make a point. Especially the main character. Victoire and Ramy were the most real to me, but they still kinda felt like plot devices. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Colonisation, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Child abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Blood, Hate crime, Body horror, Death, Grief, and Murder

paigereitz'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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow. This book tackles colonialism and doesn't hold back. It is a searing indictment on how we set up a system to allow some to prosper on the backs of others. It is an exploration of tokenism and how we often elevate the "special" to show an "exception to the rule" of racism, often ignoring the fact that it in fact validates the rule at all. It is intense and harsh, as is colonialism. It is intricate and beautifully heartbreakingly spun. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, and Child abuse

Moderate: Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Islamophobia, Murder, and Torture

b_easelbub's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad fast-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Colonisation, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Gore, Child death, Sexual harassment, Classism, Torture, Murder, Sexism, Death of parent, Slavery, Misogyny, and Islamophobia

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

dominiq_ec's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Drug abuse, Death, Addiction, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Drug use, War, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Torture, Slavery, Sexism, Racism, Classism, Blood, Hate crime, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Classism and Deportation

amaldae's review against another edition

dark medium-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Colonisation, Violence, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Racial slurs, Islamophobia, and Racism

Minor: Drug use, Slavery, and Genocide

josiebrown's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

definitely one of my new favorite books ever. i dont have the words. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexism, Colonisation, and Death