Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

654 reviews

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.

---

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

sahanasri's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious 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

man … still processing this one and the ending / how sad i am its over 

Babel felt frighteningly relevant to not only my personal revelations of late but the state of the world as it is now. I actually really enjoyed how slow paced it was (and all the footnotes!) because of the major soft spot I have for linguistics and etymology (and dark academia lmao). As I’m learning (or maybe relearning?) my mother tongue as an adult, the discussions present in Babel on colonialism and language ring so true for me - Eurocentrism robbed me of a language I wish I’d kept since birth. Reading this now is continuing to fuel my curiosity on Telugu and its origins. 

I loved the characters (especially Ramy lol) and how much you see them grow and change in revolutionary ways.

Robin in particular being so hesistant for the majority of the book was so interesting.

Overall I really enjoyed Kuang’s strategic and thorough takedown of colonial power structures and how they were/are able to last because of their incredible violence (both physically and linguistically). Anyway fuck the British empire and I loved this book

Definitely didn’t fully see that ending coming especially with its discussions on dying for a cause… really thought provoking I gotta sit with that one for a while

also R F Kuang always on her white woman hater soapbox lmfaooo

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

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.

---

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

---

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

lorolemman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

Just… wow. As a sociologist it is hard for me to find fiction books that so earnestly tap into the reality of the global empire without struggling to hold the line in either firmly fiction or firmly reality. This walked the line perfectly. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

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

---

Content Warnings

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

---

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

jolielau's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

4.0

Having just read Julia Lovell’s book on the Opium War and Louisa Lim’s coverage of Hong Kong protests, this one is surprisingly relevant and hits too close to home. 

For the first time, I’m finding a fantasy character relatable and oddly familiar. 

-1 not sure how to feel about the ending!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

raynearchv's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

5.0

my mind is absolutely blown away r.f. kuang is a genius in her field of work and i have huge respect for her.
as for the reading experience, i do admit that the first half of the book is quite slow, it felt like a huge essay while also getting glimpses into the different characters and their dynamic, but dear goodness does the pace and plot pick up drastically throughout the second half and i binged it all

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Islamophobia, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, and War

Minor: War

lis98's review

challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I don’t think I’ve ever had such an emotional reaction to a book before. Even now I don’t even know how to describe what I felt reading this. Sadness and guilt were a lot of it though. Reading this during the time of the US election and everything else made it hit different too I think. 

I heard criticism that this book tackled too many themes and bc of that didn’t go deep enough in some aspects for some people. I personally didn’t feel that way even though I can see where people were coming from. I think it was a choice to make it more about how this affected the individual characters personally and it made it so much more personal for the reader so I really am glad the author made that decision. Especially in hindsight about the importance they put on how people would only care if it affected them personally it was a very powerful choice to focus on the main characters motivations and inner world like this. 

I also really enjoyed the academic theory about language and translation a lot. It’s probably not everyone’s cup of tea but as someone who spends a lot of time learning and engaging with other languages this is something I find extremely fascinating. It also made the dark academia themes much more engaging and believable and play into the story more. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism