Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

313 reviews

amyradak's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

3.0

This book was very well written, and I appreciated the very important points made about the horrors of colonialism as well as the xenophobia, racism, sexism etc. of the very insular academic world of 1830s England. These themes and others made for a very rich book club discussion. I also LOVED the Oxford setting, and found myself happily sinking into the campus environment as Robin, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty advanced through their education at Babel college. 

That said, by the end of the book I realized that I did not enjoy the reading experience . Beginning at about the 70% mark when

Robin murders professor Lovell

the book did a complete 180 from the a compelling, well-told dark academia novel to a chaotic, frenetic series of murder cover-ups, mental deterioration, and terrorism plots. We learned next to nothing about Hermes until the last 30% of the book, at which time we became fully immersed in Hermes underworld and their life-or-death game of trying to remain hidden while bringing colonialism down from within the walls of Babel. Everything began to move so fast that key pieces of the plot were not fully fleshed out and required quite a bit of suspension of disbelief. By the end, people were outright murdering each other out of hatred and mania. Robin changed from a meek, mild-mannered student - not into a dedicated, rational champion of the anti-colonialism cause, but into a bloodthirsty homicidal maniac. I understand that the point of the novel was to make the reader consider whether violence is necessary to take down insidious institutions like colonialism, slavery, and imperialism. And I'm not saying it isn't necessary. I'm simply saying I didn't enjoy reading about it, and I also didn't enjoy that by the end of the book almost everyone had so much blood on their hands that I couldn't in good conscience root for them. I think I identified most with the mindset of Victoire who couldn't stand to see the casualties being wrought on civilians by Robin's actions, and who simply wanted to live too much to

go down in flames with Babel itself

. I did get very emotional at the end when everyone in the tower at Babel had to choose whether to

run or stay inside Babel while Robin brought it down on them

, and it was very hard to watch Robin go through with his plan. Overall, the last third of the book was a too bleak, violent, and chaotic for me to consider this an enjoyable reading experience.

Quotes I bookmarked

Ch. 1: "He understood the necessity of gratitude. Of deference. One did not spite ones saviors."

Ch. 7: "They argued endlessly, the way bright young people with well-fed egos and too many opinions do."

Ch. 8: "I don't think you two quite understand how hard it is to be a woman here," said Victoire. "They're liberal on paper, certainly, but they think so very little of us...Every weakness we display is a testament to the worst theories about us, which is that we're fragile, we're hysterical, and we're too naturally weak-minded to hand the kind of  work we're set to do." 

Ch. 9: "We hold the secrets, and we can set whatever terms we like. That's the beauty of being cleverer than everyone else. "

Ch. 9: "...for he had never been happier than he was now, stretched thin, too preoccupied with the next thing before him to pay any attention to how it all fitted together."

Ch. 12: "It was actually easy to put up with any degree of social unrest, as long as one got used to looking away."

Ch. 17: “These trade networks were carved in stone. Nothing was pushing this arrangement off its course; there were too many private interests, too much money at stake. They could see where it was going, but the people who had the power to do anything about it had been placed in positions where they would profit, and the people who suffered most had no power at all.”

 

Ch. 19: "It was relaxing in a way, to imagine the very worst that could happen, since it took the terror out of the unknown."

Ch. 20: "But you think the thing is martyrdom. You think if you suffer enough, for whatever sins you've committed, then you're absolved." "...Every time you come up against something difficult, you just want to make it go away. And you think the way to do that is with self-flagellation. You're obsessed with punishment."

Ch. 20: "It would seem a great paradox, the fact that after everything they had told Lettie, all the pain they had shared, she was the one who needed comforting."

Ch. 23: " abolition happened because white people found reasons to care, whether those be economic or religious. You just have to make them think they came up with the idea themselves.  You can't appeal to their inner goodness. I have never met an Englishman I've trusted to do the right thing out of sympathy."

Ch. 24: "They both thought this was a matter of individual fortunes, instead of systematic oppression. And neither could see outside the perspective of people who looked and spoke just like them."

Ch. 25:  "Power did not lie in the tip of a pen. Power did not work against it's own interests. Power could only be brought to heel by acts of defiance it could not ignore. With brute, unflinching force. With violence"

Interlude: "They'd beaten the system. Why in God's name did they want to break it as well?"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

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

acovington's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad 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

What if your found family could traumatize you just as much as your real family????
Jokes aside, this is an amazing reimagining of imperial Britain and the beginning of its downfall. The magic system is well thought out and explained, and the ending will rip your heart out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Sexism and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual harassment

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

end3225's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child abuse

kapreysun's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

firenza1605's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

To describe this book in any particular way would be a disservice, and yet here we are. What R. F. Kuang does in this book is phenomenal, a fantastical world on top of our own history, showcasing many of the societal injustices seen in the 1800s and still felt today. The characters have depth, and unfortunately, some of them follow all too known patterns. It is only of selfish interest that I wish that the magic had been more an element. I dearly hope that this work becomes a modern classic by which readers are led to understand the injustices in the world and to be emboldened to listen and seek to build a brighter, more fair world together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Minor: Sexual harassment

angelsplash's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

What a ride! I cannot find the words to describe the feeling of reading this book! Not only did this book get me interested in the history of languages, but also interested in a completely different country and time period! The first half of this book is mostly happy and fun, it practically flows! And then the shadows creep in, and suddenly the whole thing is shadows and an angry type of sadness. 

I fell in love with the 4 main characters (yes even that one). It was such a journey to see all of the ways they connected and differed and how it ultimately comes together. 

My only issue, which is really quite small, is that sometimes it doesn't feel like I'm reading from the perspective of the characters and more like I'm reading the authors' thoughts instead. For example "For a country that profited so well from trading in spices, it's citizens were violently averse to actually using them." Which read as a joke I had sworn I'd seen on Tumblr but with more casual language. This happens a fair few times throughout the book and causes some characters to be talking encyclopedias. They remember exact dates and names of every relevant fact and correction. And while it makes sense, since they are scholars, it doesn't quite read like that. It doesn't quite carry their individual voices as well as I'd hoped. Again, very minor problems.

At risk of any spoilers, I will stop her, but just know that this book was just on the cusp of a perfect 5 Stars! It moved me to tears and everything came to a mostly satisfying conclusion! Highly recommend to just about everyone!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Toxic friendship, and War

Minor: Addiction, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment