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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thought this book was very cool conceptually. The book is set in the 1830s, in a world where translation can create magic. Translating words from one language to another leads to certain meanings getting “lost in translation.” By inscribing translations on silver bars, translators can channel these lost meanings to create magical effects. Oxford is the leading centre of “silverworking” and the translation department allows foreign students to expand the capacity to create new meaning through translation of non-European languages. But these foreign students never really fit in at Oxford, and their languages are essentially colonized, like their home countries, for the benefit of Britain. I liked the dark academia aesthetic, and I thought the found family friend group that the novel initially focuses on was compelling. I think I kind of lost the plot towards the end. Things got very dark very fast in a way that I didn’t think made a lot of sense. Characters just kept dying and rather than up the stakes, this just made the book less interesting because a lot of the interesting characters were killed off. I thought a lot of things were left pretty unresolved and the characters’ motivations towards the end were poorly explained.
dark
emotional
hopeful
I think my friend said it best: “Rips out your heart and stomps on it while making you feel guilty for your ancestors generations of colonialism and white imperialism and slavery of black, brown, and Asian people.” 10/10 would be hurt by R.F. Kuang again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Blood
Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, Classism
Interesting commentary on holding multiple truths and the necessity of violence against violent systems. Will be thinking about this. I like that the extended metaphor between language and colonialism holds up through the book
WOW. Who would’ve thought I’d read one of my FAVORITE books of the year at the very end of 2023? As a lover of words and their endless meanings, and someone always searching for a genuinely unique idea - this book was everything I could’ve and never would’ve thought to ask for. Beautiful writing, incredible world building, characters I loved and rooted for and hated and my heart broke for. I think I have a new favorite author.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Slow and a bit dense sometimes, but I loved the story and the magic.
dark
informative
sad
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:
Yes
I feel so unbelievably fortunate to know how to read <3
What a book! What a journey I had reading it too! I laughed with the main characters, felt their anger and rage, loved in their found family dynamic, and cried—wept, even—for them.
That being said, as much as I loved and cared for the characters in this book, they were, at best, allegorical caricatures of the ethnicities/struggles they were supposed to represent. Robin did very little beyond love translating, love Rami, and experience and react to racism/colonialism. Rami did very little beyond love translating, love Robin, be sarcastic and energetic, and hate white people/Britain/colonialism/Letty. Victoire did very little than be a moral sounding board and the representative of a black woman’s struggle. And Letty… was white and British.
In my opinion, keeping these characters rather shallow did very little to hinder my enjoyment on the book, because it very much allowed myself to step into their shoes. Because, you know what? I am Robin. I am Rami. I am Victoire. The book feeds you the same discourse and sentiment you’ve been feeling your whole life and uses your own anger and frustration to bolster it through its admittedly lackluster world-building and single-minded obsession with getting its point across (and BOY does it get the point across, even if it has to say it over and over and over and over again).
I’m not here to add onto the ongoing Babel discourse. I think this book suffers from its own advertisement and readership putting it/R.F. Kuang on a pedestal and stating opinions as facts. I enjoyed it because I like hearing my own ideas and thoughts be written down much more eloquently than I ever could.
This book isn’t revolutionary. It’s just a good story. ESPECIALLY in the final few chapters, which really cemented this book as A Good Book in my eyes—those last few chapters were unbelievable powerful, emotional, and sincere in a way that, honestly, made me forgive any issues the rest of the book had.
Anyway, why 5 stars? Because I just really liked it and would have given it 4.5 stars, but it made me cry which is always an immediate +0.5 stars in my book.
Too abrasive through the first 10%. Could not continue any longer.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated