Reviews tagging 'Death'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

1504 reviews

mooncilaa_'s review against another edition

4.0

emotional 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

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this was heartbreaking I'm sad..wish the ending didn't 've to go w robin & the rest having to end their life to beat their colonizers but ik this what happens most of the time it's very awful & unfair idk what to feel about it but I'm glad Lovell died at least i wish letty died too instead of ramy it's making me so mad most people on the side of resisting brit colonizers just died ik they achieved their goal of putting the british a couple of yrs back but god what a heartbreaking way to end it still 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Colonisation, Classism

libeau's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Colonisation, War, Classism

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic

lmegould's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Classism

Minor: Slavery, Death of parent

ayylexa's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia

Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, Classism

busher03's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

1c_k7's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, War, Classism

lillymacantire's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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: Complicated

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I am amazed by this book. The intensive research that must have lead to its development absolutely paid off. I am in awe at the creation of the world—so honest, so gut wrenching in its implementation. The magic system, while at times confusing, is truly one of a kind. The characters were captivating, the history rich, the settings well-researched, and the story captivating. Written in an eloquent, clear prose which balanced the limited perspective of the character with the omniscience of a narrator who must speak on the larger world, the novel is an exemplar in so many ways I struggle to even put into words. Every detail in this book matters, every line feels important—something vital in a longer work. Even details I had long forgotten found there way into the intricately layered plot. This book reminded me of the power fiction can hold and serves as an inspiration for what I only hope my own writing can become. I will be reading more works by this author very, very soon. To the author: thank you, thank you, thank you a thousand times over.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Car accident

bitapaige's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Classism

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Sexism, Slavery, Cultural appropriation, War

andreacharleslee's review against another edition

4.75

informative mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Colonisation, Classism

Moderate: Islamophobia, Death of parent, War

Minor: Death, Slavery, Violence, Murder

gingerabbie's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

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I listened to this as I struggled with the physical copy. The writing feels very complicated/overly intellectual. As in that why use one word when you can use 5. 

The audiobook definitely helped with getting over that. I really liked the mixture of characters, though would have loved to know more about them. I know you can’t build out the secondary characters too much.

One thing that would have been nice to tie in with Letti. It would have been a good tie in if her dead brother was a member of Hermes, and that’s another layer to her disdain, and lacking of understanding to the others. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, Gaslighting, War, Classism