You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
elysianemily 's review for:
Babel
by R.F. Kuang
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*I will attempt keep this as spoiler-free as possible but proceed cautiously!
Summary: This book is objectively a solid 3.5/5 star read, but I have promoted it to 4 stars due to my personal bias toward the subject material. I am a person who is enamored with etymology and translation while being drawn to the dark academia genre. I found this to be an interesting spin on the genre and thus have given Ms. Kuang the benefit of the doubt throughout my long journey of reading this book. Below I will lay out what I liked about this and what I thought could have been better.
Pros:
- This is a book for linguistic nerds! And it delivered! I found myself genuinely fascinated by R.F. Kuang's footnotes providing etymological and historical context.
- Along the same note as the above bullet point, I did enjoy how the footnotes provided a sense of dramatic irony (yes, I am pulling out some dormant AP Lit terminology here). Much like plays and musicals add 'asides' to the audience, I overall thought this element was executed effectively.
- I love the characters! I found myself crying and laughing and thinking along with them. I also liked how from the very first chapter, it was clear that our protagonist, Robin, is not supposed to be perfect; and, to me, this characterization remained constant until the end. Victoire was the wisest among them and I am satisfied with her ending (sequel coming?). Ramy added comic relief that every book should have, of course. And Letty—well, I won't spoil anything—I have mixed feelings about (which I assume was the point). I would do a deep dive into every facet of each character but I am simply too lazy to put it here. That will have to stay in my head.
Cons:
- Upon perusing other reviews here, I can agree with the consensus that many parts could have been cut out for the sake of being too repetitive. It did feel like the same point was being drilled into the reader too many times, that by the end, it felt tedious. I also don't feel the thesis of the book is particularly saying anything new...just perhaps a different way of telling it.
- The "magic" system (so to speak) in this book did add an air of complication that would have not existed if this were pure historical fiction. I agree with other reviews here on that front.
- I am a sucker for drama, but somehow I felt the theatrics of the final 1/3 of the book happened too quickly and almost out of nothing. At some point, I was thinking to myself: "Ok, this is a bit corny" (I was reminded to my amusement of that infamous "Watcha Say" skit from SNL, if you know what I mean).
Anyway, this is a long book, so here is a long review. Cheers!
Summary: This book is objectively a solid 3.5/5 star read, but I have promoted it to 4 stars due to my personal bias toward the subject material. I am a person who is enamored with etymology and translation while being drawn to the dark academia genre. I found this to be an interesting spin on the genre and thus have given Ms. Kuang the benefit of the doubt throughout my long journey of reading this book. Below I will lay out what I liked about this and what I thought could have been better.
Pros:
- This is a book for linguistic nerds! And it delivered! I found myself genuinely fascinated by R.F. Kuang's footnotes providing etymological and historical context.
- Along the same note as the above bullet point, I did enjoy how the footnotes provided a sense of dramatic irony (yes, I am pulling out some dormant AP Lit terminology here). Much like plays and musicals add 'asides' to the audience, I overall thought this element was executed effectively.
- I love the characters! I found myself crying and laughing and thinking along with them. I also liked how from the very first chapter, it was clear that our protagonist, Robin, is not supposed to be perfect; and, to me, this characterization remained constant until the end. Victoire was the wisest among them and I am satisfied with her ending (sequel coming?). Ramy added comic relief that every book should have, of course. And Letty—well, I won't spoil anything—I have mixed feelings about (which I assume was the point). I would do a deep dive into every facet of each character but I am simply too lazy to put it here. That will have to stay in my head.
Cons:
- Upon perusing other reviews here, I can agree with the consensus that many parts could have been cut out for the sake of being too repetitive. It did feel like the same point was being drilled into the reader too many times, that by the end, it felt tedious. I also don't feel the thesis of the book is particularly saying anything new...just perhaps a different way of telling it.
- The "magic" system (so to speak) in this book did add an air of complication that would have not existed if this were pure historical fiction. I agree with other reviews here on that front.
- I am a sucker for drama, but somehow I felt the theatrics of the final 1/3 of the book happened too quickly and almost out of nothing. At some point, I was thinking to myself: "Ok, this is a bit corny" (I was reminded to my amusement of that infamous "Watcha Say" skit from SNL, if you know what I mean).
Anyway, this is a long book, so here is a long review. Cheers!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation
Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Grief, Classism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Sexual harassment, War, Pandemic/Epidemic