Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

570 reviews

misszierose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-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

5.0

This is a dense, erudite, and dark book.  I truly believe everyone who loves language and books and believes in basic human rights even if people different from you should at least attempt this book.  It is so important especially in the social and political and cultural time we are currently living through.  Our choices matter.  People deserve respect.  Knowledge is power.  Who holds that power is something that can alter the whole world’s future.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Slavery, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

endlessallison's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

This book is so relevant to today and captures the perspectives of both the colonizers and the colonized on such beautifully blunt painful ways I truly believe everyone should read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

This is a book of fiction that uses a slightly fantastical element of silver/magic to be a placeholder for any and all resources valuable to an empire. It deals with sexism, racism, colonization, revolution, workers revolt, strikes, rebellions, war, academia, and more. Within those topics there are really heavy pieces of content but it is handled tactfully and effectively to convey a message to look at the world today through the lens of this narrative.

rachelreads95's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism

aidamaria_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

This is a literary middle finger to colonialism, capitalism, racism, classism, sexism and all the other -isms, basically. I admire the way the author came up with the magic system (as a former translation student, it was truly amazing) and how it plays into the historical setting. The writing was wonderful. I wonder how long we’ve got until some government(s) bans this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Classism

koolaberg's review

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

Loved the audio book. The linguistic aspects were much better hearing multiple accents and native speakers. 

Most of the book was quite slow, particularly the beginning. But it was also quite charming and pleasant to become wrapped up in the world of Oxford in the 1830s. As an academic, it was endearing to experience another POV reflecting the love/hate relationship I feel with “the academy.” The last 1/4 of the book is quite a different pace and almost an entirely different book. I found the eventual conclusion quite heartbreaking but also satisfying given the current political climate of the US. The idea that foreign scholars could be in solidarity with the working classes gave me hope.

I found myself feeling so angry and cursing Letty for her betrayal. And the deaths of several key characters (Lovell, Remy, Griffin) made the stakes feel authentic. It’s quite poetic and tragic that we never learn Robin’s name in Cantonese.

 

The book was a bit long compared to my usual books, and perhaps could have been a duology. But I appreciated that the publisher doesn’t make the readers buy two books unnecessarily. This book felt like an excellent companion after Les Miserables. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexism, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Toxic friendship, and War

Minor: Blood and Death of parent

snowiceblackfruit77's review

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lararajs's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative 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

4.0

4 stars bc i LOVED this book personally but i also think theres a lot that could be improved, mainly i wish the characters had been more fleshed out & the footnotes were overused. i could write an essay of a review but i cant be bothered. also fuck all the reviewers saying this book is just a load of white people slander… you have obviously missed the point of the book ❤️ (sorry i was tipsy when i wrote this review)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

alicatreadsstuff's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

crusoe's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Can't give this the full 5 stars because I could not connect well to the characters but in every other regard I adore this book! From the slow world-building to a fantastic climactic end; everything lines up. Every character has their own motivations, even the sidecharacters and that breathes real life into the story. It feels like there is much under the surface that can be revealed at a second read. 

As someone who was once ensnared in the claws of academia, the way this story weaves theory with history and critique of the institution was quite nice. 

Can't wait to read more in the dark academia subgenre of 'WTF RICHARD?!'

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

20sidedbi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Genocide, Infidelity, Misogyny, Slavery, Blood, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic