Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

76 reviews

mishasbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Hate crime, Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Racial slurs, Slavery, Child abuse, Colonisation, Drug use, Bullying, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Islamophobia, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, and War

lottie1803'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racism, Colonisation, Classism, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality

bobaduckie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, Sexism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Xenophobia, Torture, Colonisation, Hate crime, Gore, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Blood, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, and Slavery

Minor: Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Islamophobia, and Cultural appropriation

Spoilers ahead: Betrayal because

Letty shoots Ramy and turns Hermes in

chalkletters's review against another edition

challenging 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? No

3.75

Babel has been an extremely hot topic at book club since it came out, and we've just been waiting for the paperback before we put it on our reading lists. I knew the main conceit going in: that Babel's magic system relies on the difference between similar words in different languages; whatever meaning of the word is left untranslated, manifests as physical reality. As a speaker of only one language, the magic system felt about as distant to me as any other magic system I can't participate in (which is to say, all of them!) but the themes of moving country at a young age are definitely ones I'm appreciative of.

R F Kuang's world building is amazing: not only is there a whole magic system grafted onto historic Oxford, there's detailed interplay between real-world history & empire and the fictionalised versions based on acquisition of silver. Even more impressive, the world is explained clearly enough for readers to follow without getting bogged down in masses of extraneous detail. While parts of the novel are necessarily exposition-heavy, it never seems to slow things down.

Despite the vastness of the world, Babel is peopled with relatively few characters: a class size of only four students in a year at Babel seems to be perfectly normal. This allows R F Kuang to focus tightly on the interpersonal relationships between the four main characters, though there's a lot going on under the surface that there's never quite time to bring to light and explore fully. R F Kuang trusts the reader to connect the dots and make their own inferences, but readers who prefer character-driven novels over plot-driven novels may wish there wasn't quite so much left unsaid.

Fortunately, the plot driving Babel is a gripping one, especially once the four students travel to Canton. It's not too much of a spoiler to say that the latter half of the story had intense The Secret History vibes, albeit with a more overt political and class struggle undermining the main action. R F Kuang's descriptions of Oxford also rival Donna Tartt's for atmosphere, though the mood captured is very different in each. 

It's a treat to kick off the year with a book that's firing on all cylinders. The only thing I can find to criticise is very much based in personal preference: early on, Babel seems like it will be a book about found family and friendship, which I love, and it does contain those things, but not in an uncomplicatedly positive way. The ending absolutely fits the novel, but perhaps doesn't entirely fit me as a reader.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Death, and Suicide

Minor: War, Slavery, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Murder

capnhist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexism, Racism, Murder, Colonisation, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Torture, Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Racism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Violence, Medical content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Sexism, Abandonment, Classism, Cursing, and Death

Minor: Car accident, Child death, War, Rape, Genocide, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Infidelity, and Deportation

thebankofbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racism, War, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death of parent, Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Torture

bloodbrooxv's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

Rebecca did it again.

I loved this book from the very first page: you can see how much the author cares about the subject, and the way she manages to reconcile and express her love for the academic setting with an honest, raw and unfiltered critic about colonialism is masterful. As in tpw, Kuang addresses these issues in an extremely deep way, without neglecting the most brutal details. 
I really liked the characters, even if sometimes I’ve found the co-protagonists a bit flat. Robin, on the other hand, is characterized beautifully. His motivations are clear and evolve naturally during the course of the story, and its inner change is as inevitable as necessary. 
I especially loved the second half of the book, mainly because I think that the first half has some pacing issues. Probably the only narrative choice I didn’t appreciate was the way the author used footnotes: they contained very interesting information, but in my opinion they were far too fundamental for the complete understanding of the story, and they compromised the flow of the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Death, Racism, Violence, Sexism, Racial slurs, Blood, Torture, and Child abuse

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Slavery, Gun violence, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Religious bigotry

Representation: chinese mmc, black fmc, indian mmc

remuslibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Violence, Torture, Racism, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, War, Alcohol, Slavery, and Fire/Fire injury

jelliestars's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Torture, Colonisation, Gun violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Gore, Torture, Child abuse, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Classism, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, War, and Addiction

Minor: Child death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Trafficking, Car accident, Genocide, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Vomit, Confinement, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders