Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

161 reviews

chasinggrace's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious 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

There’s no other rating to give a Kuang book than five stars. 

The magic system and environment that Kuang creates is unmatched - completely transformative, no stone left unturned, no detail spared. 

The way Kuang breaches racism, colonialism, sexism, and exploitation is horrifyingly accurate. And this book is devastating. 

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teabrewer's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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? No

5.0

I've felt like this about a book and never this intensely. I cried when I closed it for the last time, after reading the last word of the last line of the acknowledgements. I felt like something was being taken from me. Like my skin streched and ripped as the story got farther and farther away. I couldn't let go of the book. Like a mother and her child holding each other after birth, but I didn't feel like a mother, maybe like a child. I feel like my molecules are now organized diferently. I didn't want it to be over, but I don't know if liking would be the correct word for the experience.

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cherryfreckle's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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mscalls's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5


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keltaklo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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moond4ncer's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

Best book I've read in a long time. Intriguing, clever, really well crafted. 

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celery's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

4.75


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monicalaurette's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.75

I knew from the beginning that I was going to like this book, I just didn’t know how much - and isn’t that a lovely feeling?

Part of me wanted to make this review short and almost like a joke by saying “5 stars, made me feel bad for being white” but truly I never felt bad for being white while reading the book so I also didn’t want to be false in my review. I took more time to look at my privileges as a white woman in the USA and what that meant for me and all those around me.

So many people say that books should not be political or talk about controversial topics, but I think having books like that only enhance a person, even if the book is escapism. If a book helps you to understand your place in the real world, but still offers you a haven from it - I think that makes it an absolutely wonderful book and I don’t know why others don’t see it or refuse to allow themselves that sentiment.

But now back to the book because I’ve gone a slight tangent - sorry!

I loved following Robin and seeing things through his eyes and also the fact that he would acknowledge the challenges of all his cohort as the years went on. I also enjoyed the way that Kuang wrote the divide in Robin’s mind about his feelings for Hermes vs Babel. The struggle he went through was so vivid that at times I was feeling conflicted while reading. I was also feeling stressed out while the cohort was preparing for their exams, so much so that I had to not read those parts at work so I could focus better!

"Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes."

Certain parts of this book happened and I said to myself - this is not a middle of the book event, what else is going to happen now that this has come to pass? - and was just taken on a wild ride for the last like 40% of this book. And that 40% had so much emotions swirling in my head that I rarely took breaks unless necessary.

Very happy that this was my first book by R.F. Kuang and looking forward to my other book of hers on my shelf. And I know that the message and characters of this book will stay with me longer than normal while I move on to other books. The way this book ended I feel was such a testament to the characters and what they all stood for in their hearts and how they knew they could change the world both as a group and individually.

"A mind was not meant to feel this much. Only death would silence the chorus."

I liked Miss Piper and hated Lovell from the start - I’m glad those feelings never changed as the book moved forward.
Honestly thought Evie was also a part of Hermes somehow and not really dead - and I know that I trust Griffin’s version of the story more than Lovell’s on what happened to her with the bar.
Had I not been at work when I read it I would have cheered a little when Robin killed Lovell. He would’ve done something to him either while on the boat or when they returned from Canton so to me it was both self-defense AND revenge for his mother.
Removing .25 stars because of Ramy, and listen: I GET why he had to die, but it just made me so incredibly sad when it happened because I never handle character deaths well.
When Robin & Victoire were talking about the tower burning all I could picture in my head was the burning Elmo meme and I’m so sad I wasn’t able to paste it into my reading journal.

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em_of_swags's review against another edition

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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? Yes

5.0

wow this book destroyed me ok.

what a powerhouse of a read, a love letter to languages, translation and research, while simultaneously criticizing so in depth the way academia is linked with privilege and imperialism. much to think about.

but also there's a huge list of trigger warnings so don't disregard those.

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xx_salem's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The first 200 pages of this book where incredibly difficult to get through, I would put it down for weeks and only get through a couple pages. Reading it made me feel good and intelligent and yet I don’t think I picked up nor absorbed much of the content or the message for the first while. The last 200 pages though were intense and interesting and I couldn’t put it down. The ending was satisfying and made me want a second book so I could watch the fallout, it felt realistic. But I never loved the characters, their deaths meant nothing and I simply couldn’t be attached to any of them. They felt so lackluster and unfeeling, it was really the plot and the intrigue and what thoughts it provoked that made this book good.

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