Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

181 reviews

wheatlyre's review against another edition

I didn't have enough time to read it, and need to return it soon. It also has been taking me a long while to read, and whether or not it's just my mood the past 5 weeks, but it takes me a while to feel motivated to actually read it. Once I read a paragraph or two I get sucked in for a couple 10-17 pages, but I've been busy and just haven't been able to really get into it in the right way. (Again, just my experience with it so far, and it might not necessarily have anything to do with Babel in particular.) The writing is more advanced than the typical YA novel, but not as period-accurate as a classic Literature novel, still leaning more to the YA style.
I have enjoyed it so far, with a couple parts in particular sticking out to me, especially [spoiler cw:

child abuse, physical abuse, and emotional abuse

]

when Robin is beat by the Professor for the first time. The way he describes his surprise and the numbness he felt during it was heart wrenching, and the way the professor was described as both detached, reserved, and aloof, yet swift and graceful, was incredible. I'm unable to describe with words how affected I was by it. I'm also in awe with how amazingly the author characterizes Robin through the way he reacts to the abuse, brushing past it and refusing to think about it for anything more than, 'I don't want that to happen again'. The rest of Robin's teenage years were brushed past, which, while I feel it to be a loss for me to see more of his adaption to life in London, I understand from a storytelling point as a reflection of the monotony of his years there, and could possibly be echoing off how the single beating affected him.

The writing in that part is just so beautiful, and I've frequently found myself coming back to that moment. I just wish we got a bit more of his musings.

I really enjoyed his reflections on the professor and cook's disagreement about scones.

Once again, I have not gotten too far in the book, but I have liked it quite a bit so far.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Confinement, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, Classism, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Terminal illness, and Colonisation

Minor: Trafficking and Slavery

all content warnings mentioned were put in intentionally by the author and are seen clearly to be character flaws or problematic.

snarkycrafter's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.5

While I really wanted to like this book, the story fell flat for me. Quite flat. When I was about 70% through I still felt like not much had happened and was considering a DNF. 

The magic in the book felt like an afterthought. 

It was an interesting commentary on colonialism and whiteness. But beyond that I found little in this book to be gripping or interesting. I had to push myself to finish it. 

I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn’t land for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Classism, Xenophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Racism

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Islamophobia, War, Sexual harassment, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Drug abuse and Addiction

imds's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Suicidal thoughts, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Misogyny, Torture, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Sexism, Islamophobia, Murder, Racism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Classism, Colonisation, Grief, and Physical abuse

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Deportation, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Child death, Confinement, Hate crime, Misogyny, Violence, Abandonment, War, Racial slurs, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Grief, Islamophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Trafficking

letterpress's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

I think I am still gasping for breath. I am clapping, if all dark academia is not written like this I do not want it. She was able to write what could have been such an elitist topic to something that was very easy to grasp, you don't even have to go searching. I want more!

This book is a straight masterpiece. It is so refreshing to read a victorian age dark academia novel through the eyes of people of color. I cannot fully grasp how she was able to touch on so many topics. From classism to racism to economics she covered it all masterfully. I was learning new scopes of language as I was trying to read this. 

Her characterization of Letty and the and white guilt was so spot on. My mind is still reeling. Her characterization of being a person of color who is provided opportunity and the guilt/shame you can sometimes feel was also spot on. I did not know that my soul needed to read a view point of this age that is not told by the white majority. This was like therapy and a history lesson all in one.

A required read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Suicide, Racial slurs, War, Toxic relationship, Gore, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Misogyny

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Slavery

smiley_ari's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

It was a great read!

 Could have been 5 stars but there were periods where I felt it dragged a little, and at times the writing felt very “hand holding” and repetitive when talking about the various characters and their experiences with colonization. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Racism, Gun violence, Colonisation, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Torture, Islamophobia, and Violence

Minor: Slavery

gbeene's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Violence, and War

Minor: Suicide, Abandonment, Sexism, Torture, Toxic friendship, Islamophobia, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

alainral's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Racism, Xenophobia, and Child abuse

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

broken_biscuits's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

As a political thought piece, great. As an actual story, a little rough. While the magic system was *so* cool, I was a little disappointed in the character writing. Still felt like a worthy and important read. I feel like it did a lot of telling the reader how to feel about things, which kind of took me out of the experience, even though I agreed with what I was "supposed to feel." I didn't feel hardly any connection to the characters, since they felt like they were created to make a point. Especially the main character. Victoire and Ramy were the most real to me, but they still kinda felt like plot devices. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Colonisation, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Child abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Blood, Hate crime, Body horror, Death, Grief, and Murder

paigereitz's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow. This book tackles colonialism and doesn't hold back. It is a searing indictment on how we set up a system to allow some to prosper on the backs of others. It is an exploration of tokenism and how we often elevate the "special" to show an "exception to the rule" of racism, often ignoring the fact that it in fact validates the rule at all. It is intense and harsh, as is colonialism. It is intricate and beautifully heartbreakingly spun. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, and Child abuse

Moderate: Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Islamophobia, Murder, and Torture