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tarrnation's review
- 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
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual harassment and War
Minor: Car accident
jelliestars's review
- 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? No
2.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Genocide, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic
rnbhargava's review against another edition
- 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
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.schausjk's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicide, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
samchase112's review against another edition
- 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
Full review coming soon, even if it’s just mainly just going to be a list of quotes.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Child death and Rape
sharrikloves's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
This is an important read, but will be extremely triggering for AAPI + BIPOC readers.spineofthesaurus's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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
gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition
- 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
Where do I begin. This was perfection in a novel... Bold words, I know.
This straight away reminded me of a recent read, being Jonathan strange and Mr norrel in tone, but I would say more accessible, which is funny because one of the main things I loved about this novel was how academic this was. I've always liked the idea of dark academia but always thought I'd struggle to understand the information, (probably why I leaned away from this for so long), but it was so reader friendly in its prose and so fascinating that I couldn't help pour over every word. It was so surprisingly easy to read that I barely minded the lack of consistent short chapters.
As well as being visceral in the vibe of the genre, it wasn't shy on having substance.
The plot was thick and intricate, with threads of conspiracies and beautiful detailing on the science behind silver-working (the magic system in this world). The conversations on interpretation, colonialism, building into a corrupt Empire was just so powerful to read about.
The victorian setting was lush, filled with jaw dropping descriptions of an imagined Oxford in what you could call this alternate history, and the early tour of the Institue of Language itself was fascinating.
Speaking of language, the etymology was so thorough, fascinating and deep. I loved seeing how different languages connected, and in this case, paired together to create something quite magical, yet equally dangerous in the wrong (and of course, powerful) hands.
Our characters..Oh what can I say that hasn'y been said before?
I Ioved the friendship demonstrated here, especially between Robin and Ramy. Seeing our main four characters explore Babel from their varying and diverse perspectives and as novice scholars of language was such a delight.
I appreciated getting interludes of the other threes upbringing and history, because the story is mainly told from Robin's perspective, so it was nice to change it up a bit and appreciate a bit more of the other characters. Even if we didn't have that, I could never accuse Robin, Ramy, Victoire and Letty of being flat characters. They felt real.
The whole time, pacing was brilliant. This was especially noticed at times when I was listening to the audio.
I feel like I learned so much during my time in this world. I'm left heartbroken and in awe at the sheer aduacity of excellence R.F. Kuang had in crafting this whole piece together. Coming into this as the first novel I've read from this author, I now understand that all the praise is well deserved and I look forward to trying out her other novels.
A note on the audio - the voices and accents the narrator could flit between was so impressive. He sounded like a BBC news reporter for the first time, but this was quite endearing as time went on.
I loved blended reading this one (physical and audio). It felt like my own little match-pair.
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
Minor: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Car accident, and Alcohol
crunchycrystals's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
i connected a lot with robin's story as an asian who doesn't know much about their own culture and grew up fairly disconnected from it and more connected to western culture. the scene where he commits to not forgetting cantonese despite them trying to force it out of him hit hard since i've also been told it's useless for me to learn/ use the language since it's not as useful as spanish for example. this book made me want to learn more about my own history and culture etc and i appreciate it for that
Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, and War
Minor: Car accident
racism, colonization, and classism are very important parts of the story. its set in the 1800s so people do say slurs and derogatory terms towards the non white characters (ex the word "chinaman" is used multiple times)athryn's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
It ultimately ended up a bit stale to me, like the author had a really good grasp of the translation and language stuff, and yet wasn't all that great at actually writing historical fantasy. The characters at Oxford really didn't resonate with me as much as I'd like. The constant modern phrasing in the dialogue just felt off. Don't get me wrong, I love a "fuck the British Empire" and "fuck capitalism" book, but this just ... I dunno. It feels overrated.
Graphic: Death, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Colonisation
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Car accident