Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

46 reviews

ymschas's review

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Torture, and Vomit

xx_salem's review

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

The first 200 pages of this book where incredibly difficult to get through, I would put it down for weeks and only get through a couple pages. Reading it made me feel good and intelligent and yet I don’t think I picked up nor absorbed much of the content or the message for the first while. The last 200 pages though were intense and interesting and I couldn’t put it down. The ending was satisfying and made me want a second book so I could watch the fallout, it felt realistic. But I never loved the characters, their deaths meant nothing and I simply couldn’t be attached to any of them. They felt so lackluster and unfeeling, it was really the plot and the intrigue and what thoughts it provoked that made this book good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

nandakandabooks's review

challenging reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Police brutality, and War

Based on the topics are very important books. Also interesting for language learners and translators. Unfortunately I was not interested in thecharacters and point's of interest for me have not been only glanced upon.

lilly24's review

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

A beautiful book, in and out. Loved it. Let you staring at the wall

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation

juliatsang's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Abandonment

shlymiller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

This is a great read, a fascinating magic system, and an intriguing storyline. It’s also a hard, heavy read. I’m glad I read it, but be prepared to leave brain space for heavy, real themes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement and Alcohol

steffiepie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Racism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Main themes include imperialism and language

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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? Yes

5.0

This book is amazing. It feels classic, riffing on so many known qualities of well known books yet it still does its own thing. The history and ideas are implemented so intelligently that this fantasy feels more historic fiction than anything. The fantasy is really more for quickly explaining action and technology. The magic is in the language, the languages help define the characters and their dynamics with each other, it’s thrilling and heartbreaking at the same time.

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Content Warnings

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.

asifsyed's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

cordiaelly's review

dark emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and War

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship