Reviews - Babel | The StoryGraph

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64.9k reviews for:

Babel

R.F. Kuang

4.34 AVERAGE

iamnattles's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional informative 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: No

Babel started out strong. I thought it would end up being a 5 star read, for sure. And it would have - if Kuang used more restraint and subtlety.

What I loved: the concept was brilliant, an alternate history of Oxford centred around 'silver-working' and capturing the power of words that are lost in translation. The linguistics major in me loved the discussions about their language studies. The main characters were also wonderful.

What I didn't love: the relentless and uncompromising delivery of Kuang's themes. It was clear violence was required to break free from their colonial oppressors and it was unnecessary to continuously hammer home the evil of white 19th Century Britain when it had already been evidenced 100 times over.

johnsavageireland's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

First half was really enjoyable, loved all the linguistic details and set up. Felt like it was missing any tension or suspense but was enjoying the world. Once the later plot has started it's all a bit too convenient and I'm just not in the mood any more.

mandagood's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

spookystitch8's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional 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: N/A

stairsflynnmore's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark informative sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

youaremykiseki's review against another edition

5.0

I really enjoyed this book! It starts off pretty slow in order to set up a lot of background and world building, which I understand is not everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed seeing the day to day life and interactions and the

small fractures in the characters' relationships before things really start going off the rails

. My main complaints are that it occasionally became a bit dense and academic and sometimes a bit much to read through. I also wasn't a huge fan of the interludes of the other character's pov/history, which I guess just kinda feel like cheating to me idk.

The magic system was

indeed very fleshed out in terms of the rules and materials for activation but felt somewhat random when it came to devising specific spells/results, which wasn't my favorite. I also feel like it became kind of hand wavy about how much they could use/reuse some bars

.

In terms of plot, I really liked the way it developed! It was definitely

not quite as hopeful as I would have liked

, and it became a little bit preachy in some cases (especially when it felt a little too real), but overall I enjoyed reading it. I was hoping for a bit more epilogue material to see

the public/parliament's reaction to the tower's collapse

. I am still thinking about the message it tells about revolution and tactics and the moral arguments, but as a book, I really enjoyed the writing, plot, and characters.

Content Warnings