Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

760 reviews

readandchill23's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This is an amazing medium burn for me and I enjoyed every ounce and nod to world history and linguistics through the eyes of craving justice, understanding and equity.
I kept thinking... Joanne could NEVER.
Also, side note: We all know a Letty. We should all shun our Lettys.
A few favorite quotes: 
"Colonialism is not a machine capable of thinking; a body endowed with reason. it is naked violence and only gives in when confronted with greater violence."
"Empire needed extraction. Violence shocked the system because the system cannot cannibalize itself and survive. The hands of the Empire were tied because it could not raise that from which it profited. And like those sugar fields, like those markets, like those bodies of unwilling labor, Babel was an asset."
"Strikers in this country never won broad public support. For the public merely wanted all of the conveniences of modern life without the guilt of knowing how those conveniences were procured."
"Violence was the only thing that brought the colonizer to the table."

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Grief, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

joeyvelcro's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

this book ruined my life and for that i’d like to thank it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Slavery, and Islamophobia

buffalomj's review

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I devoured this book. Kuang has written some of the best character work that I have ever seen, and I felt I knew every one of them within a few pages. I loved the simplicity of the magic system at work — it’s barely fantastical which, when combined with the PhD-level attention to linguistics, creates something entirely unique and enrapturing. I feel like the momentum was unsustainable though, and the resolution was kind of abrupt — definitely would have enjoyed more espionage in books IV and V, but I was still invested.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Moderate: War and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Deportation

chantellimus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

bumfinity's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

3.5

Long read with a very slow beginning. Wish there was more in-depth exploration on the magic system. Would have preferred more emotion in the writing style so it could be easier to connect with the MC. Kept wishing it leaned more fantasy-like.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and War

nekoprankster218's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

This was such an experience to read in the last two months of 2024. I had to check it out twice from the library as my reading slowed, a bit because I had to take breaks from this book (not entirely the book's fault). The first two weeks were in November, the last few days of reading in mid-December. 

This is definitely one of the books everyone should read at least once in their lives, one of the novels that should be added to English class curriculum. It's a good story on its own, but the added themes of revolution and anti-colonialism elevates it, especially in the current era. I've been utilizing my library to get through my TBR to save on money and space, but if I ever had the chance, I would purchase this book to keep forever.

My one gripe is honestly pretty nit-picky: I don't like how dialogue 'uses "punctuation" like this', "instead of 'like 'this'". It threw me off at the start and I never fully got used to it even by the end.

At first the pacing was also throwing me off, but by the time I reached the final chapters, I realized why it was like that and it's no longer a fault to me. I really enjoy how this novel feels like a progression of one type of story turning into another and then further into another; it feels realistic for the events and relates the reader even more to the main characters, who certainly wouldn't have expected their cozy academic fantasy to turn so jarringly. 

This book made me feel at least twice now an experience of "this can't actually be happening, this is not real, they're gonna pull the rug under me and reveal this as a dream sequence... NO WAIT THIS IS GENUINELY WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" and it was exhilarating. I can't think of any other story that gave me such a deep sense of... unreal shock? I can think of life events, which coincidentally happened around the time of reading this and were pretty relevant to the themes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

onmypocket's review

adventurous challenging informative tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

elisha002's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Trafficking, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, and Classism

am_kaz's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Death, Racism, Violence, Colonisation, and Classism

eldervampire83's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense 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

5.0

Phenomenal narration. It made an already brilliant story all the more gripping, with individual voices for each character portrayed by Chris Lew Kum Hoi. He captures all of the emotions and even the inflections of each quote. An excellent touch, as well, to have a separate reader narrate the footnotes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, and War