Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

466 reviews

hanahf's review

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use and Death of parent

alliyyamo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I loved this so much. It was a bit slow to start but worth the build up. My digital copy had a few issues rendering some characters in the other languages unfortunately. I'm definitely going to get my hands on a physical copy.

If you're passionate about languages or have an interest in linguistics and history, this is a must-read. I found it to be a brilliantly researched and thoughtfully crafted work, with a world that feels alive. Personally, I've never been adept with languages, but I've always felt a sense of envy towards multilingual individuals. It’s also a source of deep sorrow for me that, due to the lasting effects of colonialism, my family and I have lost the languages of our ancestors.

It's definitely not for the faint of heart if the length daunts you. But I think it was well worth the read and I will be thinking about this one for a while.

Forever heartbroken about Ramy & Robin and what never was.

Honestly so grateful to R.F. Kuang for helping provide the history/English/literature education I never had.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and War

I honestly feel like I could put so many content warnings just because of how much context there is in this book related to colonialism, classism and racism.

joey_estrada's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

The writing is beautiful and poetic and flows smoothly. I like how the dialogue is written.
I really liked all the literary references and just the general atmosphere of the book. Reading it made me feel smart and uneducated at the same time. 

The way that colonialism, racism, slavery, etc. were talked about was very interesting and felt brutally honest, which I appreciate and think is needed when talking about this sort of thing. 
Language was intertwined with and used as an example of how colonialism affects people and their identity. I thought it was done very well. 

The character development for everyone but especially Robin was very interesting to see and perfectly shown. 
You can see how drastically Robin's thoughts, feelings, and morals change and go back and forth. You can see his inner turmoil and contradictions so vividly.

This book did not go quite how I expected it to based on some happenings towards the beginning, but truthfully, it got so much better and more interesting than I thought it would and I already had high hopes for this book. I cried and teared up multiple times while reading for multiple different reasons.

I think everyone should read this at least once.
The feeling of being alone as a person of color, the different yet similar experiences people of color can have from each other, the devastating cruelty of how racism and colonialism work, the tragic realizations all throughout, and even more emotional, heavy, complicated, upsetting topics are somehow put into words perfectly.

(I realize that this is a very long review, but this book is so packed full with emotion and information that I feel it's only right. For all I know, I'll add more thoughts later.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Islamophobia, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Slavery, and Death of parent

snowiceblackfruit77's review

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

emellyc's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Physical abuse, and War

lararajs's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious 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

4.0

4 stars bc i LOVED this book personally but i also think theres a lot that could be improved, mainly i wish the characters had been more fleshed out & the footnotes were overused. i could write an essay of a review but i cant be bothered. also fuck all the reviewers saying this book is just a load of white people slander… you have obviously missed the point of the book ❤️ (sorry i was tipsy when i wrote this review)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

crusoe's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

4.75

Can't give this the full 5 stars because I could not connect well to the characters but in every other regard I adore this book! From the slow world-building to a fantastic climactic end; everything lines up. Every character has their own motivations, even the sidecharacters and that breathes real life into the story. It feels like there is much under the surface that can be revealed at a second read. 

As someone who was once ensnared in the claws of academia, the way this story weaves theory with history and critique of the institution was quite nice. 

Can't wait to read more in the dark academia subgenre of 'WTF RICHARD?!'

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

spaceykate's review against another edition

challenging dark informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

This story & stylistic approach to sharing language / historical notes in footnotes appealed to me greatly, and the Les Mis nature towards the end - students, standing against an oppressive national force - strikes an impressive chord. Loved the book. Makes me passionate about linguistics again, of sharing knowledge, of civic engagement. Fairly certain this will continue to resonate with me in the days to come. 

I found it fascinating at the end, where Victoire remembers her friends in their last moments & Robin, in his, thinks fondly back to better times. It speaks to each of their motivations for how they close out the story. I’m pleased it ended with Victoire, in giving her character a true chance to be free from the narrative she was shackled to by manner of circumstance, and able to fight for the freedom of others in her way. Robin, much like Griffin, burned too bright and too fast to be the hearth that was needed for the next stage of their revolution. Victoire was the anchor, the pièce de résistance to keep that concept moving forward.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

iitaviinisalo's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring 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

5.0

5/5
How am I going to read other books after this? My about week long journey reading this has been amazing. Almost every night I have been excited to pick up this book for hours at time. Every plot point hit for me and there wasn't a moment where i wished that the book would change or go other way. Depicts abuse, exploitation, racism, inequality and white privilege in a heart breaking way. The hidden true ending was Ramy and Robin living happily ever after married with Victoire as their neighbour. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and War

20sidedbi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Genocide, Infidelity, Misogyny, Slavery, Blood, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic