You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Kuang’s level of intelligence and brilliance surrounding etymology and translation and her immense skill at bringing issues that are still horrifyingly prevalent in the world to the forefront of the story through a powerful lens were a true gift to read and will be staying with me for a long time to come.
And that’s where my 2.75 stars go. That side of this novel was an astounding piece of work. Unfortunately, the rest of the book had to be consumed alongside it.
I was told that the beginning of this book is slow. For me, the beginning ended up being the first 328 pages. And this is a heavy read to begin with.
I found all of the characters within the book shallow and underdeveloped. So much of their lives and interactions were glossed over. Flashbacks or explanations for their behaviour and decisions were often sewn into the book through footnotes giving them the feeling of an afterthought. I spent the entire time wishing this book would have been at least a duology so as to have given room for us to actually get to know the characters as people, and not just awkward stunted players in a black box theatre production.
The main female characters, Victoire and Letty, were often left T-posing in the corner of scenes, utterly forgotten in place of their male counterparts. When they were used (which was woefully little) they either felt like the author didn’t know their character (as with Victoire) or were an absurd cartoonish creation (as with Letty).
Despite the overall themes being interesting I did feel like I was being smacked over the head with the book at times whilst being asked, “Do you get it? Do you understand? Do you even comprehend yet?” which got exhausting because I don’t think I’m as stupid as this book thinks I am.
This book would have been so much more interesting if the lectures had been edited down somewhat in order to give room for character exploration. I’m certain the characters could have been truly loveable if they had been allowed to exist outside of a 2D space. I said to friends that this book had scope to be up there with Six of Crows or Lies of Locke Lamora if only the characters that inhabited the world were given the same love and detail as the world was.
I do want to give this author another chance so will likely read more of her work in the future. There were so many moments where I was sure I could have fallen in love with her writing if only given more to work with.
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Torture, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Deportation
Still a five star read that needs to be read at least once.
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Babel perfectly marries academia with adventure/intrigue. It analyzes colonialism through translation, calling out how imperial powers (in this case, the UK) rely on the people and resources of their colonies in order to have any power- or society- at all.
I loved everything about this book. The characters (although oftentimes frustrating), the setting, the purpose & the anticolonial politics, the magic, and the language!!! As a former language student i loved seeing how Kuang explored the purpose & effects of translation. The ending really left me speechless.
and finally… let Ramy & Robin be in love (explicitly) 🫶🏼
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Colonisation
- First, I love the concept, I was so excited when I started the book. This book is well written, researched and the author captured the feeling of being marginalised very well.
- The author spent a long time on world-building, discussions about language, and the silver working ( “silver+translation = magic” ). This book is great if you are into etymology. For me personally, these parts are way too long and hard to read.
- I am into plot and characters, so I was bored for quite a good portion of the book. When there is plot, the pacing is so quick, too quick even. E.g.
death of Prof. Lovell . The first half of the book felt so slow for me - I was so happy when Robin wasshot … I thought, here comes the action.. but then they all went back to school and it was back to language discussion for a few chapters again. - There was not enough time spent on characters at all. We were told that Robin, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty are best friends but we were not shown their daily life and interactions. Most of their interactions were mostly for author to showcase racism, how bad colonialism was, and how clueless Letty (the representative of white women) was towards her friends plights.
- There are just so many things that could be expanded.
How could Robin turned to Hermes so easily at the beginning? How Letty betrayed everyone so quickly? What's going through Lovell's mind most of the time? Are Ramy and Robin queer? The ending chapters were so quick too. I wanted to read more about character's internal conflicts more, dammit. - I am still not sure what the author's intention of the book. Who is this book written for? What does the author want to say? Does she want to remind us how bad colonialism was? How countries (esp China) have dealt with so much injustice? That violence is necessary for change?
- As a mixed race person, the racism felt too close to home and very uncomfortable to read too.
I can see why this book is so popular. But it is just not for me.
Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Colonisation
Minor: Abandonment
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Murder
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: War
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Classism
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia
Moderate: Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Colonisation