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readandchill23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I kept thinking... Joanne could NEVER.
Also, side note: We all know a Letty. We should all shun our Lettys.
A few favorite quotes:
"Colonialism is not a machine capable of thinking; a body endowed with reason. it is naked violence and only gives in when confronted with greater violence."
"Empire needed extraction. Violence shocked the system because the system cannot cannibalize itself and survive. The hands of the Empire were tied because it could not raise that from which it profited. And like those sugar fields, like those markets, like those bodies of unwilling labor, Babel was an asset."
"Strikers in this country never won broad public support. For the public merely wanted all of the conveniences of modern life without the guilt of knowing how those conveniences were procured."
"Violence was the only thing that brought the colonizer to the table."
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Grief, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism
payeswoods'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
2.0
Graphic: Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
onmypocket's review
- 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
1.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
xstargirlx's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism
themoostconfused'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
"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.
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
sunsuci'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: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Classism
winonareads's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
infusionofviolets's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Xenophobia, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Vomit, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
kareimer's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
cakrolik'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
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism