Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

41 reviews

theasi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Body horror, Classism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, War, Blood, Bullying, Death, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Grief

Moderate: Slavery, Child abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Deportation and Drug use

naisdayz's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

I finished this book during class and could BARELY hold myself back from crying.

While Babel took me quite long to get through, I really enjoyed it. I really loved the cohort, though I would have wished for their relationships to be a little more fleshed out here and there. I could believe that Robin would die for Ramy no doubt - but the boys didn't seem as close to the girls and vice versa.

Anyhow, its safe to say that Letty's betrayal WRECKED me.

Kuang is really good at writing morally grey characters. Letty will do all those horrible things and then her intermission comes and you're like... Oh. That's why. And it doesn't excuse her shooting one of her friends or being the way she is, but it makes you understand and somewhat emphasize with her.

I found the footnotes that explain things that are relevant to the story, both fictional and (mainly) real to be pretty cool - it allows you to understand the story and what was happening on an even deeper level.

Babel is a very important book, in my opinion, that should be read by everyone (especially white people). It's so much more than a dark academia book, or a fantasy book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexism, Racism, Misogyny, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, Classism, Child abuse, Blood, and Physical abuse

Minor: War

hagwife's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

Babel is all at once one of the most precise novels I've ever read and also one of the most tumultuous – precise and exact in the storytelling, the construction, and of the violence of colonialism and tumultuous in how the cohort of Robin, Remy, Victoire, and Letty have to navigate the spaces in which the reside. It is a stunning work, wrought in marvelous detail, scathing truths, beautiful relationships, and heartbreaking depictions of the choices anyone who is not in the majority must make to survive, let alone thrive, in the face of overwhelming abuse. And it is also a love letter to language, to meaning, to one's personal history, and to using those to form connection.

For anyone looking for another deep-dive into an alternate history that weaves magic and does not pull its punches, I recommend Dan Vyleta's Smoke. To anyone looking for the headlong rush of adventure and an unapologetic, vicious love letter to a place and its peoples, N.K. Jemisin's The Great Cities duology is the way to go.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, and Child abuse

Moderate: Grief, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual assault and Toxic friendship

sian_a_griff02's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: War, Suicide, and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Slavery, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, and Xenophobia

sandeater's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racial slurs, Death, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

hannahcstocks's review

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

happilyeveralli's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Misogyny, Colonisation, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault and Death of parent

moond4ncer's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Addiction, Classism, Racism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Grief, Misogyny, War, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, and Sexism

celery's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Misogyny, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Trafficking, Vomit, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Slavery, Drug abuse, Gore, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide, Alcohol, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Self harm, Abandonment, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Deportation, Medical trauma, Drug use, Emotional abuse, War, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Confinement

reedlaww's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative inspiring slow-paced

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

2.5

An academically well-written work that introduces the reader to a brilliantly crafted concept of magic, but transforms to a heavy-handed social commentary of inequality, capitalism, and colonialism. 

The pacing is slow, and the general plot-devices are largely predictable. 

The characters are well-written and the commentary is poignant and relevant. But the concepts of the latter portion are nothing new or remarkable to a reader with the aptitude to make it to that hill. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, and Sexism

Minor: Sexual assault