Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

50 reviews

hedsek's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

I found this book really gripping, amazingly well written and super insightful. The whole idea of the silver working and the role language plays in it is really interesting and also appeals to me personally as a linguist, and it was clearly very well researched. The overall treatment of how people respond to oppression was also well thought out and I thought it was gripping to read about the different ways in which the main characters dealt with it. However, one thing I really disliked about this book were the footnotes. They served many different goals and it was very unclear from what perspective they were meant. I feel like they also implied that the author didn't really trust readers to understand the difference between fiction and reality and sometimes even that certain racist views expressed by characters are indeed racist and not factually true. This was mostly in the beginning of the book, though, and it did not take away from my enjoyment of the rest of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Suicide, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, Grief, Racism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Classism, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Blood, Slavery, and War

Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Deportation, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Islamophobia

criticalbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Car accident, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcoholism, Blood, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Deportation, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Chronic illness, Death, Gaslighting, Medical content, Misogyny, Police brutality, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, and Sexism

kindra_demi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

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

5.0

How much did I love Babel? Well it gave inspiration for my possible dissertation topic (we wait for approvals still) so... Still trying to figure out how to do a dedication in a dissertation because it will be to R.F. Kuang (sure my family and friends, but R.F. Kuang first).

Second, literally the only reason why I didn't binge this in one sitting is it just stressed me out for the start of grad school.

Third, this is not my first journey with R.F. Kuang. I know the pain and suffering she exquisitely writes into her stories. THAT BEING SAID, IT DOESN'T MAKE THE PAIN ANY LESS PAINFUL. The way everything is so thought out and detailed, and you can see that with all of the footnotes she makes and the explanations she makes in her connections of languages. She makes you not just feel on a superficial level, but experience the emotions the characters go through on a deep level.

As I read the book, I couldn't help but think of when will I be stabbed in the back. Life was too happy for a book that it a critique of how institutions uphold white supremacy through colonization. And I love that about the book! It leaves me on edge the whole time.

As someone who is fascinated by languages too, the discussions of translation, what words mean and what they used to mean, etc. would send me into a spiral which included anywhere from 10-30 minutes of Google searches going down my own rabbit whole.

Would I recommend Babel? Of course. But if it's your first experience with RF Kuang's writings, be prepared with a box a tissues and a therapist on speed dial (note the lack of reviews for The Poppy War Trilogy which is literally one of my favorite series ever because I'm still trying to process it)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Blood, Colonisation, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Classism, Medical content, and Slavery

eralbesu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Reading this book made me feel smarter. I felt like I learned something, even though I’m fully aware this is historical fiction, it felt educational in a sense. As a victim of colonialism, it challenged me to think of it in a way I never had before. 

RF Kuang is so impressive as a writer. It’s inspiring and challenged me to go deeper with my own writing. 

I really enjoyed this novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Grief, Islamophobia, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, Drug use, Death of parent, Deportation, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Moderate: Abandonment, Medical content, Death, and Medical trauma

being_stupid's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, and Torture

Moderate: Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Racism, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

leonormsousa's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Murder, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Child abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, War, and Xenophobia

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

1.0

I preordered this book and was so excited to read it, but found it hugely disappointing. A lot of the problems I had with The Poppy War are only magnified here, so maybe RF Kuang isn't for me.

Much like Rin, Robin is a complete non-entity as a character, and just absorbs the opinion of whoever the last character he talked to was. The book is very long but so much is glossed over - each friend has like one character trait and we barely see them interact so none of the emotional beats hit like they're supposed to. The writing is self consciously mimicking a "classic" style but characters often speak in a strangely modern vernacular (saying, "same," to agree with someone, a character's disparaging remark about "brain cells", the character who directly quotes the Caleb Gallo "sometimes things that are expensive are worse" sketch) and most of the language around race by characters we are supposed to like came straight out of 2020.

The book makes a huge deal about pointing out racism like you might miss it in a way that felt very YA to me (the footnotes that are essentially just "that's racist" in the smuggest tone imaginable made me want to scream) but the POV characters say unexamined misogynist stuff all the time and a major plot revolves around a woman consumed by romantic jealousy in a way that made me really uncomfortable. You can tell when the author doesn't like a character and those characters are excruciating to read. There's this absurd sort of Shakesville era privilege checklist thing going on over who is allowed to be sympathetic and/or correct that is so simplistic it's embarrassing. (Eg. Ramy is an Indian Muslim so he is almost always correct when arguing with Robin, who is a white-passing Christian. You can predict the outcome of almost every conflict in the book like this, like rock paper scissors)

The magic system was cool in theory but the world was somehow almost exactly the same except that the machinery of empire is clustered together in a really small space so characters can claim a victory that somehow feels super rushed even though it was foreshadowed 500 pages before.

The lectures on language were really interesting though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Colonisation, Torture, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Confinement, Vomit, Alcohol, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Classism, War, Gore, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Medical content, Islamophobia, Car accident, Slavery, Child death, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

anapthine's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

 Thank you Net Galley and HarperCollins UK Audio for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, this was incredible. 

Babel follows protagonist Robin, who has a skill with languages. After the death of his family, Robin Swift is taken to England by Professor Lovell. Here he joins the Royal Institute of Translation in Oxford University. When attending he meets Ramiz, Victoire and Letitia, who were all in very similar situations to him. Soon they become inseparable and work together to uncover the secrets of Babel. This novel shines a light on Colonialism in the Victorian Era and the effects on colonised communities having their existence diminished. Babel is full of love, betrayal, secrets and family. The language is compelling, emotional and incredibly skilled. R.F. Kuang is yet again a genius and I think this book deserves to be nominated for the Booker Prize. The way this book made me feel was incredible - I highly recommend it. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

5.0

Thanks to Harper Voyager for the free advance copy of this book.

 - How on earth does one review a masterpiece like BABEL? Kuang has written a book that is both a page turner and a burn it all down, salt the earth indictment of academia, colonization, patriarchy and more.
- The magic system in BABEL is brilliant, and a perfect parallel to the mechanics of British colonization. The translations, the footnotes, all of it occasionally makes you forget that this is a novel.
- As a white reviewer, I can't even begin to touch on Robin's internal struggles of choosing what path to take as a person of color thrown into the upper levels of whiteness at Babel. The pain and rage of it is laid so bare on the page. And I know I have been the Letty in conversations before. Kuang softens none of it.
- I know I'm not doing this justice. Please seek out reviews by people of color on this book, there is already a deep discourse around it and I'm sure that will continue for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Child abuse, Classism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, War, and Suicidal thoughts

emmyb's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

THIS IS WHAT DARK ACADEMIA IS MEANT TO BE! It doesn't just wear the term like a mere accessory, it brings the substance and the complexity. I do not have the skill to articulate the genius of this novel and it's many themes, but R. F. Kuang delivered it beautifully. Her passion, knowledge, and extensive research in the art of translation was evident on every page, and lovers of language will enjoy the etymology lessons woven into the prose and the magic system.

The themes in this book will stick with me for a long time. I can't wait to have a physical copy in my hands to fill with annotations.

I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Grief, Racism, Violence, Death, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Drug use, Confinement, Body horror, Slavery, Physical abuse, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Classism, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Child abuse