Reviews - Babel | The StoryGraph

64.5k reviews for:

Babel

R.F. Kuang

4.34 AVERAGE

fenta's review against another edition

4.75

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: Yes

jaskie's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional 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

e_vanilla's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional informative sad 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: Complicated

First part: relaxing, fun historical novel with light urban fantasy elements & focus on friendship. Second part: challenging, turmoil, devastating and almost a bit over the top. Overall: great colonialism critique, well researched and easy to read.
(Also, I really liked the magic system using languages.)

eijunsawamura's review against another edition

3.5

informative tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

oversea_radio's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark sad medium-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: Yes

As a bilingual myself, the magic system felt very sus but endearing at the same time. You definitely have to be in the right mood for the tedium and explanations.
I agree with many other reviews saying that the plot twists/turning points felt drawn out. The half way point made it seem as though there was going to be some kind of catalyst but fell flat?
I just don’t know what it is about dark academia (the privileged students? the lack of human conciousness?) that makes the stakes seem so low to the reader (or is it just me?)…

The finale felt very Blood Over Bright Haven-esque (even though I know this books was written and hyped up way before that one).

hike_read_repeat's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Great concept and storyline.

jasminehh's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

siouxsiek's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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: Complicated

sataanaperkele's review against another edition

4.5

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-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: Yes

allisonpicksbooks's review against another edition

3.0

dark informative reflective slow-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: No

September book club theme: 👩‍🎓 Education 👨‍🎓 - September 21, 2025 - This book mostly takes place at Oxford University. It's very difficult to get into. The book is filled with linguistic references and explanations of the origins of words. The enormity of translation could have been portrayed in fewer words and not hindered the story line. The book didn't get interesting until about 60% of the way through.

Content Warnings

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