Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

543 reviews

issy_jacob's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide

gwyllion's review

challenging dark hopeful informative reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

loasa's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense

• 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

Graphic: Death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, and Grief

rudwulf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Torture and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

clarkg's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

I want to open this review with the caveat that my five star review does not come without criticisms. I felt that some characters were denied robust inner lives, while others' motives were so hammered out that it felt redundant at times. In some sections, the pacing felt a bit drawn out. That said, "Babel" is an inventive, thoughtful, and serious reckoning with the relationship between empire and academia. R.F. Kuang simultaneously manages to capture the relentless, insurmountable nature of the colonial project, while exploring the many shapes that resistance can take. The central points of conflict feel both historically situated and uniquely relevant to contemporary conversations about global imperialism. Whether or not Kuang herself would define Babel as "dark academia", I do not know. Either way, the genre is greatly enriched by her voice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

scripturient's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? No

5.0

This is a masterpiece. I am probably very biased as a translator, but this is such a unique concept, it was well executed, it digs really deep into translation, colonialism, power imbalances, slavery and so much more within a framework that puts it into a new light without losing it's touch with reality. A hard read,

it definitely doesn't have a happy ending

, but it is well worth it anyway.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Cultural appropriation

windowplant's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ethuiliel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Drug use

svtephreads's review

adventurous dark tense 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

4.25

I didn’t like the ending. It was too abrupt and unsatisfying. But the rest was great and it was the right level of fantasy for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

scarletkeiller's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

This was an unbelievable read. The stakes are so high and despairingly real. Kuang's writing is exceptional and she manages to make a work of speculative fiction feel like a true historical text. This world is so well crafted and I can do nothing but sing Babel's praises! The further I got into the book, the more I would read in one sitting because the tension was nauseating.

Things happen so suddenly (just as they do in real life), often with no closure, no time to process what has happened. Characters don't get to say what they need to say, confess what they want to confess. They are there one moment and then they are gone. This would be a five star read for me, but I feel the epilogue takes away from the emotional impact of the final chapter. You want to sit with these feelings of grief and horror about the state of the world, the hopelessness and the injustice, and then you are ripped out of it by a violent tone change. It just felt like an anticlimax. After such an exceptional book it felt odd to end on such a flat note. Also, creating what seems like a slow burn queer romance b-plot, only for both characters to be killed off before they can ever really acknowledge how they felt for one another (even if just to themselves) felt a bit of a waste. That part of the story definitely could have been developed more. The book was quite sexless in general so I wish it had either built on the queer story or kept their relationship as a strong friendship instead.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: War