Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

65 reviews

themoostconfused's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

"That's just what translation is, I think. That's all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they're trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands." (pg. 535)

I don't even know where to begin. R. F. Kuang has done it again. She has rattled me, shaken me to my core and I thank her for it. Going into it - having read the entire Poppy War series - I knew I was not bound for a happy, carefree book. Coming from an anthropology background, the extent of human destruction and hatred of "the other" it not news to me but it continues to move me every time. 

I can already sense that I will return to this book over and over again in the future and will recommend it to everyone I come across, although not without warning. 

The book's alternate title "The Necessity of Violence" captures the journey this book takes one on while reading quite succinctly, althought the extent of this might not seem obvious upon first glance.

In the process I have learned a great deal about linguistics and am planning on dealving into that further. But first I am going to have to digest what I have become witness to by reading this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

sunfleurbelle's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, and Alcohol

ruthlessreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative 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

4.75

An ambitious novel that meets every expectation I had before reading. Kuang is at the top of her literary powers here. The writing style & tone is so different from her previous series, yet her voice comes through clearly. Her experiences at Oxford are clearly an influence to some of the happenings in the novel and Kuang draws from them powerfully to craft a story of the abuses of colonialization, racism, and capitalism that places like Oxford (and, indeed, our own country & lives) are dependent upon to be comfortable & function normally. 

I finished the book thinking heavily on the connotations of these issues in the modern day and in what ways we can begin to make community across racial and class divides to create a more equitable future for everyone. Truly an incredible undertaking on Kuang's part with an equally imposing outcome. My only gripe, if you could even call it such, was that it was a little longer than necessary (IMO) and slowed down quite a bit about 3/4s of the way through until the very end.  So the pacing was a little off and it didn't make me set it down but I could see how it might feel like a slog to others. 

Oh! And I liked the footnotes but I'm a nerd so *shrug*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Slavery, Blood, and Classism

vitoriaemi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-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

Reading this book felt like a slap on the face, a punch on the mouth and a kick on the stomach

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, War, and Deportation

mariahmmm's review

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? It's complicated

3.0

Rescued from a cholera plague in China, orphaned "Robin" is taken to England by a mysterious benefactor and enrolled in Babel - the esteemed translation institute at Oxford University responsible for creating and maintaining the magical silver bars that underlay all societal progress. What follows is a story of found family, injustice and prejudice, violent revolution, and the necessity of violence.

What a book. An exhausting read with dense and heavy content that picks apart and lays bare the prejudice and injustice of white colonialism and the greed for power and control. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

idabwells's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Probably the most impactful book I've ever read besides Jemisin and Butler.

Manages to capture the devastating scope of colonial genocide while also portraying the courage and brilliance of those around the world struggling to survive and triumph over it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Gun violence, Hate crime, Rape, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nicklybear's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship

bilal_shumuus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

nithyuh's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.5

r f kuang’s writing is a form of art

Sorry to the people in the library today who saw me physically and verbally reacting to the end of Babel

would’ve probably started crying if my parents didn’t start talking to me while i was reading the last chapter

would’ve been 5 stars but didn’t get THAT one feeling

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

Minor: Physical abuse and Kidnapping

imds's review

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic