Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

108 reviews

jamesdaniel's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Trafficking, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Blood, Antisemitism, and Medical trauma

solarel's review

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

The first third of this book was an interesting dive into an academic and magical world. The rest of it was a slog. Plot twists occurred but felt more anxiety inducing than exciting. The last quarter of it that ramped up to the climax was just a passage of days and weeks where nothing happened at all. 

Conceptually the book discussed important themes with no subtlety, but there was nothing there to keep attention to. A bit disappointing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

aisclaradm's review

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

I don’t say this lightly, but this is the best book I have ever read. A fascinating ode to languages, that  both discusses its exploitation by colonisers and uses it as a metaphor of sorts for the cruelty, evil and injustice of imperialism and capitalism. Beautiful story and a painfully relevant tale. Incredible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Alcohol

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

tinyjude's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

Set in 19th century England, we follow the story of Robin and his cohort (Ramy, Victorie and Letty) in the highly renowed instituion of Bable. Through the lens of these characters we see them grow and suffer the effects of dark academia in all its senses. The way in which grades, work, obsession can hurt physically and mentally the students. The competitive atmosphere... But also, how deeply rooted colonialism is in every aspect of academia.

Thus, the novel explores and discusses topics such as systemic racism, colorism, slavery, colonialism and the ways in which the latter works to increase the power of the Empire. These are characters who have been extracted from their homelands and treated as assets (Robin-Canton, Ramy-Calcutta, Victoire-Haiti; Letty is the only white British woman in their group). They are the language they speak because that is valuable for the Crown, but they are nothing more than devices, another instance of colonizers exploiting colonized people and taking away their languages, culture, etc...

Some reviews complain about timelines (the author stated at the beginning that it was a piece of fiction and some changes were made to accomodate the plot) and the use of anacronisms like "whiteness" as we understand it today, but I like them. After all, this text speaks to a modern audience, us, and even though at that time they didn't have a word for this thing, now that we do, we should use it.

The novel reads in some parts much like an academic paper, as it deals in depth with etymology, linguistics, history, a little bit of literature, philosophy and politics. So, as a language nerd who could recognize from my degree studies and further research, many of the authors, concepts, explanations and dilemmas discussed, I was elated. Like a cat smelling catnip or their favourite treat. Nevertheless, that didn't make it a dense book for me, in fact, it just sparkled my interest in languages even more.

Other people feel like it was a bit too-much-on-your-nose or handholding the reader through the book. They argue that it feels patronizing, as if we wouldn't be able to recognize the problems, the racist comments they receive, without the characters pointing it out. For people well versed in these topics and who have lived through all of these experiences, it's normal to think it was too much. Nonetheless, I think it was still useful, it will be useful for people who are starting to deconstructe themselves. Furthermore, I kind of love how she hammered into every paragraph thousands of critiques, moral dilemmas about justice, rightness, exploitatin, betrayal, belonging, grief, privilege, class, race and gender differences. Because I love angry characters full of spite and vengeful thoughts. As with Rin in The Poppy Wars, I was all in with Robin and the necessity of violence to occur for an Empire or an entire system to fall. And I am also fond of lots of descriptions :D

Moreover, the intricate relationship between translation and betrayal, translation and commodification, translation and colonization, translation and identity... It was exquisite and a very beautiful defense on why preserving every single language in the world is such an important task, as it is not just about the language, but also, culture, history, identity, a whole world behind that cannot be replaced or reconstructed. A richness that must be preserved.

Finally, Victorie, my love. You are so strong and one of my favourite characters. Ramy, you were the best of them all, since your first appearance I knew you would be my favourite. Robin, oh Robin and his constant dilemmas, feeling as if he was living two lives, as if he was never complete. I loved his character development. And Letty... Fuck you!

I knew she wouldn't get it (and I say this being a white person) and I wanted to punch her so bad. She was so disrespecftul, racist, classist, self-centered, selfish, self-victimicizing, arrogant, ignorant... She could have listened, but she didn't want to see the truth because it was ugly and it proved she was part of the problem. She was a coward and a terrible friend. She never loved them as they loved her. She never made the effort to go beyond her prejudices, she never put herself on their shoes. She enraged me so much. AND SHE FUCKING KILLED RAMY IN COLD BLOOD, HER SUPPOSED FRIEND ON WHOM SHE HAD A CRUSH ON, JUST BECAUSE HE REJECTED HER AND IT HURT HER WHITE EGO ???? JAIL TIME, GO TO HELL

And she represents so many white people who turn a blind eye to these kind of situations, because it doesn't affect them, because it is inconvenient, shows the venom in the system, and because it shows their lack of compromise, love, morality and humanity in regards to others. In contrast, that teacher (I think Mrs Craft) at the end proved to be at least decent among the white characters.

Final thought, did anyone else read some intense feelings between Robin and Ramy or was it just me? Romantic or really really platonic that go beyond their friendship in the group, like soulmates kinda.

specially given Robin's reaction and fixation on Ramy's death among all of the Hermes Society's members and his memory of him on that first day before Robin dies, which is so idyllic and queer coded in my opinion

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Classism

sarahofstories's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

@R. F. Kuang: WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jaysaysnope's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Islamophobia, and Trafficking

spineofthesaurus's review

challenging dark informative sad tense

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, and Deportation

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Excrement, and Car accident

rocketdea's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Xenophobia, War, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Slavery, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic