Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

210 reviews

senga15's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, and Car accident

princess_azula's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexism, Islamophobia, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

zuv's review

emotional informative inspiring 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

A beautiful book that highlights the impact of colonialism on people and how they have been perceived in western countries historically. A fascinating magic system and loveable characters make this book one that I would recommend to pretty much everyone! It is hefty though.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Classism

bgmylc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

• 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: Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Deportation

beonie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Grief, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Infidelity and Deportation

nikki_flowers's review against another edition

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

5.0

This book was brilliant in so many ways that I cannot even begin to adequately put into words. 

This is a book to help you decolonize your mind. The story itself is beautiful and the message is powerful. Fiction like this is so important. People need to see, these stories, to read these stories. Decolonial fiction like this gives us insight and hope and community and so much more. 

As I reflect back on my journey reading this masterpiece I cannot help but think of the events that were unfolding in the world at the same time. 

As I very slowly (for thoroughness sake, not a lack of interest) made my way through the book, I watched the world justify the genocide of Palestinians and the further colonization of Palestine. I watched so so many people, white girls and women in particular, obsess over this book but refuse to put the message into practice. If felt like a fetishization or infantilization of the book and its decolonial efforts. How many read this book and took what they wanted from it for their own selfish reasons and then watch Palestine burn and called Hamas terrorists or stayed completely silent. A completely colonizer move to take what you want from the book and leave the rest to burn regardless of the harm caused.

And yet, how many others read this work and felt its message in their bones. How many saw themselves on the page for the first time. How many people were awakened to liberations struggles. How many felt and cried and turned it into action. How many had hard and necessary conversations with themselves and/ or others because of this book.

That is the legacy of this book. The change it brought about to so many. The perverse colonizer response is not its legacy but rather further example of exactly why we need books like this. 

May this book live on in the hearts of those who have read it and may it fuel our souls in the liberation/mutual aid/revolution/abolition work we do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, and Alcohol

c_ab_bage's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

the most 5 star read i have ever read. as a layman to translation i found the entire thing fascinating and incredibly clever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Classism

valjeanval's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

I do think RF Kuang is going to go down as one of this generation's leaders of fantasy. She's a great writer, and that writing is coupled with meticulous research that make her books feel so rich and thoughtful. Babel is definitely a timely read, and sadly I think it will be a timely read for a while. I think her style was occasionally a little heavy-handed, but I'm also a white woman reading this, so the very fact that I thought that might be more of credit to the writing than a detriment.  Otherwise this book builds an incredible world and uses it to really spotlight the insidiousness of colonialism and colonial attitudes. 

I'm glad I finally got around to reading this one, and while it's no cozy holiday read, you should probably read it too.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

asmallgremlin'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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Racism

Moderate: Slavery, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and War

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.

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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