Reviews - Babel | The StoryGraph

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64.6k reviews for:

Babel

R.F. Kuang

4.34 AVERAGE

all_uncool's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

sachajewell's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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

nabbott's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark mysterious 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

Content Warnings

zmitrovic's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

alexareads27's review against another edition

3.0

informative mysterious 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: Yes

I really wanted to love Babel as much as I loved the Poppy War trilogy. This book was a lot of telling and not showing which is not effective form of story telling for me. I was also intrigued by the magic system but wished it had more of an impact on the plot.

Kuang had the correct beats to this story but it didn’t feel fully fleshed out to me. I really wanted to love Robin and the gang but ultimately felt little for them. Some of decisions felt like they came out of nowhere despite spending almost 600 pages with these characters. This book might find a better audience with those who are still learning about British imperialism and colonialism a bit more.

I hope I enjoy Yellowface a bit more as it’s already in my physical tbr.