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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I just don't get the hype. Started strong then just fizzled. She is such a fluffy writer that doesn't do a good job world building. This is her second book that I've read and I'm not very impressed. Very predictable and long. I don't think I'd recommend this.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
adventurous
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed this book and how it progressed. It’s the first historical fiction/fantasy book I’ve read and was pleasantly surprised. I had always avoided books that utilised real places in fantasy like that but I enjoyed how it was approached. I liked the main characters and how they progressed throughout the story. This was a book that I never quite knew what was going to happen next or what path the characters were going to do next which I liked. It featured politics and the trade market more than what I thought it would, it wasn’t necessarily bad and I understood that it was vital to plot but at times it became difficult to follow. The approach of English colonisation I felt was handled well and it was nice to see from different cultures perspectives. I liked the ending of the book and though I wasn’t surprised with the ending it was still quite sad to read and part of me still wanted to know what happened afterwards in Oxford and wider.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
babel by r.f. kuang is a dark academic fantasy (who doesn't love a historical fantasy??) that weaves language, colonialism, and revolution into a stunning and acutely distressing tale set in an alternate 1800s oxford.
this. this is an unforgettable read. mystical in atmosphere yet razor-sharp in intellect. kuang amazingly conjured an alternate world, one that is both deeply magical yet painfully real in its own ways, resonating with the historical weight of empire, language, and resistance. as we journeyed with the four main characters through their struggles of identity and belonging, we also saw betrayal, wrapped in kuang's beautiful and cold narrative of translation and etymology.
i felt so much heartache towards the inevitable choices each of them made as individuals, where they carried their own contexts and wounded histories into the weight of their decisions and relationships with one another. robin as a character was written so so beautifully - the way his torn state was articulated through his multiple hesitations, self doubts, and how many times he internally debated to cling on to the idea that he could very well flourish in a system that was built to exclude him. i'll be thinking about this read for a while for sure
this. this is an unforgettable read. mystical in atmosphere yet razor-sharp in intellect. kuang amazingly conjured an alternate world, one that is both deeply magical yet painfully real in its own ways, resonating with the historical weight of empire, language, and resistance. as we journeyed with the four main characters through their struggles of identity and belonging, we also saw betrayal, wrapped in kuang's beautiful and cold narrative of translation and etymology.
i felt so much heartache towards the inevitable choices each of them made as individuals, where they carried their own contexts and wounded histories into the weight of their decisions and relationships with one another. robin as a character was written so so beautifully - the way his torn state was articulated through his multiple hesitations, self doubts, and how many times he internally debated to cling on to the idea that he could very well flourish in a system that was built to exclude him. i'll be thinking about this read for a while for sure
This in my opinion is one of the most important books ever published. The message of this book is something that was important in the time frame it was taking places and still is very important today. This should be a required reading in High School.
challenging
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A masterpiece, truly.
slow-paced
Boring, next! In all seriousness, yeah, that's kind of it... I mean, the book was fine, but it felt too long. I felt like it was just getting interesting in the last part of the book, which is sad. It was mostly boring up until then. And, some of the stuff that I would find interesting in other books was just boring in this. So, yeah, that's about all. I wish I dnfed this.