Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

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

165 reviews

bilal_shumuus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, Self harm, Torture, Colonisation, Death of parent, Genocide, Child abuse, Grief, Murder, Classism, Infidelity, Death, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Confinement, Blood, Police brutality, Abandonment, Addiction, Islamophobia, and Pandemic/Epidemic

justmys's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

…ok. So. Let me just say, the concept, themes and the way the fantastical elements of the world were woven in amongst real world history and colonialism were masterful. Truly. The love, care and passion that went into the building of those portions of the book were truly jaw dropping. 

Kuang’s level of intelligence and brilliance surrounding etymology and translation and her immense skill at bringing issues that are still horrifyingly prevalent in the world to the forefront of the story through a powerful lens were a true gift to read and will be staying with me for a long time to come. 

And that’s where my 2.75 stars go. That side of this novel was an astounding piece of work. Unfortunately, the rest of the book had to be consumed alongside it. 

I was told that the beginning of this book is slow. For me, the beginning ended up being the first 328 pages. And this is a heavy read to begin with.

I found all of the characters within the book shallow and underdeveloped. So much of their lives and interactions were glossed over. Flashbacks or explanations for their behaviour and decisions were often sewn into the book through footnotes giving them the feeling of an afterthought.  I spent the entire time wishing this book would have been at least a duology so as to have given room for us to actually get to know the characters as people, and not just awkward stunted players in a black box theatre production. 

The main female characters, Victoire and Letty, were often left T-posing in the corner of scenes, utterly forgotten in place of their male counterparts. When they were used (which was woefully little) they either felt like the author didn’t know their character (as with Victoire) or were an absurd cartoonish creation (as with Letty). 

Despite the overall themes being interesting I did feel like I was being smacked over the head with the book at times whilst being asked, “Do you get it? Do you understand? Do you even comprehend yet?” which got exhausting because I don’t think I’m as stupid as this book thinks I am. 

This book would have been so much more interesting if the lectures had been edited down somewhat in order to give room for character exploration. I’m certain the characters could have been truly loveable if they had been allowed to exist outside of a 2D space. I said to friends that this book had scope to be up there with Six of Crows or Lies of Locke Lamora if only the characters that inhabited the world were given the same love and detail as the world was. 

I do want to give this author another chance so will likely read more of her work in the future. There were so many moments where I was sure I could have fallen in love with her writing if only given more to work with. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Racism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Torture

Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Addiction, Deportation, Gun violence, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Torture

passionatereader78's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious 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? No

4.5

If you like political fantasy stories this book is perfect for you! If you enjoyed Yellowface, and Atlas Six you will enjoy this book. It's well written and the story is told well. Robin, Remy, Victoire, and Letty are minorities at Oxford University.  They are translators and are in the Babel tower. They stick together because they have no one else. They aren't invited to the parties or to go to town. They each face discrimination daily. As they study and spend time at Babel they begin to accept their fates until they meet Griffin and learn about Hermes. Are they strong enough to face the truth about Babel and the part they play? Definitely, check out the trigger warnings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Classism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and War

dreadspawn's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, Death, Sexism, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Physical abuse

luise96's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

3.75

I really liked the idea of this book, especially the idea of how the silverbars work. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half, I am not so sure how I feel about the second half, but I was definitely engaged and wanted to know what would happen. 
A word about the audiobook: the narrators did a good job, I liked the different narrator for the footnotes. However especially in the first half of it the audio mix was horrible, you can clearly tell when a sentence has been edited. Sometimes I thought that there were like 4 people saying just one sentence, which took me completely out of the story. Fortunately this got better in the second half, but it was surprising to hear in a professional production. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism and Drug abuse

bababookmatt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

Harry Potter 1-7 meets the politics, economics, history of English academia, colonialism, and imperialism. I hope this book has a large influence on the conversation of racial injustice. Just when you’ve fallen in love with the student life at Babel and Oxford, the story’s intensity ramps up and never stops. The mystical characteristics endowed to silver working and translation is a well crafted symbol for the power behind language and communication. Further, this approach made linguistics and etymology, which I always found scholastically intimidating, comprehensible and fascinating. The characters are absolutely fantastic throughout and so well developed. They become your friends. I found myself picking sides during their disagreements, celebrating their achievements, and mourning their hardships. This is a book that will stick with you and influence the way you view social injustice historically and at present. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Drug use, Gaslighting, Slavery, Child abuse, War, Physical abuse, Murder, Addiction, Colonisation, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, and Domestic abuse

teabrewer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

I've felt like this about a book and never this intensely. I cried when I closed it for the last time, after reading the last word of the last line of the acknowledgements. I felt like something was being taken from me. Like my skin streched and ripped as the story got farther and farther away. I couldn't let go of the book. Like a mother and her child holding each other after birth, but I didn't feel like a mother, maybe like a child. I feel like my molecules are now organized diferently. I didn't want it to be over, but I don't know if liking would be the correct word for the experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Classism, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Torture, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Islamophobia, Medical content, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Trafficking, War, and Genocide

snarkycrafter's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

2.5

While I really wanted to like this book, the story fell flat for me. Quite flat. When I was about 70% through I still felt like not much had happened and was considering a DNF. 

The magic in the book felt like an afterthought. 

It was an interesting commentary on colonialism and whiteness. But beyond that I found little in this book to be gripping or interesting. I had to push myself to finish it. 

I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn’t land for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Classism, Xenophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Racism

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Islamophobia, War, Sexual harassment, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Drug abuse and Addiction

moooooshell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Racism

Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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

I think I am still gasping for breath. I am clapping, if all dark academia is not written like this I do not want it. She was able to write what could have been such an elitist topic to something that was very easy to grasp, you don't even have to go searching. I want more!

This book is a straight masterpiece. It is so refreshing to read a victorian age dark academia novel through the eyes of people of color. I cannot fully grasp how she was able to touch on so many topics. From classism to racism to economics she covered it all masterfully. I was learning new scopes of language as I was trying to read this. 

Her characterization of Letty and the and white guilt was so spot on. My mind is still reeling. Her characterization of being a person of color who is provided opportunity and the guilt/shame you can sometimes feel was also spot on. I did not know that my soul needed to read a view point of this age that is not told by the white majority. This was like therapy and a history lesson all in one.

A required read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Suicide, Racial slurs, War, Toxic relationship, Gore, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Misogyny

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Slavery