Scan barcode
goldenlake's review
- 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? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and War
Minor: Infidelity, Slavery, Alcohol, and Deportation
uranaishi's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Child death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, War, and Deportation
jelliestars's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Genocide, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic
rnbhargava's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
All the themes said to be triggers are present, particularly the race and religion ones. There’s a scene where it appears that female characters could hypothetically be assaulted. The racism and discrimination on religion angles are throughout the book. The major theme of the book is reconciling existing within educational institutions in the west while the same people you’re learning from are harming your original homelands, whether you remember them or not, and the moral plus political repercussions of that.slinders's review
- 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
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Torture, and Abandonment
colittle's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition
- 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
Where do I begin. This was perfection in a novel... Bold words, I know.
This straight away reminded me of a recent read, being Jonathan strange and Mr norrel in tone, but I would say more accessible, which is funny because one of the main things I loved about this novel was how academic this was. I've always liked the idea of dark academia but always thought I'd struggle to understand the information, (probably why I leaned away from this for so long), but it was so reader friendly in its prose and so fascinating that I couldn't help pour over every word. It was so surprisingly easy to read that I barely minded the lack of consistent short chapters.
As well as being visceral in the vibe of the genre, it wasn't shy on having substance.
The plot was thick and intricate, with threads of conspiracies and beautiful detailing on the science behind silver-working (the magic system in this world). The conversations on interpretation, colonialism, building into a corrupt Empire was just so powerful to read about.
The victorian setting was lush, filled with jaw dropping descriptions of an imagined Oxford in what you could call this alternate history, and the early tour of the Institue of Language itself was fascinating.
Speaking of language, the etymology was so thorough, fascinating and deep. I loved seeing how different languages connected, and in this case, paired together to create something quite magical, yet equally dangerous in the wrong (and of course, powerful) hands.
Our characters..Oh what can I say that hasn'y been said before?
I Ioved the friendship demonstrated here, especially between Robin and Ramy. Seeing our main four characters explore Babel from their varying and diverse perspectives and as novice scholars of language was such a delight.
I appreciated getting interludes of the other threes upbringing and history, because the story is mainly told from Robin's perspective, so it was nice to change it up a bit and appreciate a bit more of the other characters. Even if we didn't have that, I could never accuse Robin, Ramy, Victoire and Letty of being flat characters. They felt real.
The whole time, pacing was brilliant. This was especially noticed at times when I was listening to the audio.
I feel like I learned so much during my time in this world. I'm left heartbroken and in awe at the sheer aduacity of excellence R.F. Kuang had in crafting this whole piece together. Coming into this as the first novel I've read from this author, I now understand that all the praise is well deserved and I look forward to trying out her other novels.
A note on the audio - the voices and accents the narrator could flit between was so impressive. He sounded like a BBC news reporter for the first time, but this was quite endearing as time went on.
I loved blended reading this one (physical and audio). It felt like my own little match-pair.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
Minor: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Car accident, and Alcohol
cardboard's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Deportation
Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol
butterfly_seraph's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and War
lauragarabedian's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation