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A review by skittyrreads
Babel by R.F. Kuang
challenging
dark
emotional
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
3.5
I feel so unbelievably conflicted about this book, I almost didn't give it a star rating. It has everything there to be a 5 star read but it just... misses? at every hurdle.
The Bad;
The pacing is the worst I've ever seen for a fiction novel- genuinely the slowest i've ever seen a "plot" progress and it does nothing but repreat the same few points over, and over, and over to the point where it's an exercise in reading. This is a personal gripe but I did find a lot of the vocabulary talk boring and deeply distracting from the character work and general motion of the novel, including the footnotes in this. Which brings me to another point, this is a fiction novel being written as a non fiction one, while also trying to have all the regular convention of a fantasy novel and it doesn't work! The first 50% nothing happens and then the next 40% the actual book happens and it's insane whiplash. The characters also suffer deeply because of this, they don't really serve as actual characters but as mouthpieces for whatever the book is wanting to say at that particular moment BUT sometimes they do act like actual characters and when they do I really like them! Robin was probably my favourite but only because we see him the most. Victorie isn't a character straight up and Ramy/Letty get served dishwater by the text of the novel. Also very minor gripe but i'll say it again and again, the repetition of the same "Later he would think back and-" drove me nuts! I get that it's to serve how Robin is trying to act like a bystander in his own story but Jesus fuck. The point that "they don't fit in/babel will never accept them/babel will never need them truly" is repeated so often, even at the end of the book it's the big thing that leads them to suiciding the tower but I don't understand why? I feel like it's unnecessary handholding when the book's messaging is deeply obvious at all times (not a bad thing by anymeans, and I do think this is a part of the tell, don't show thing the books got going on works).
The Good;
The message about colonisation is extremely well done and it's clear the book was researched to the nines. When the characters get time to be characters I really like them, and the latter half of the book is extremely good to read and does feel like a payoff to what came before. The ending in particular was very strong imo and a good summary of what the book achieved.
Overall just a strange read for me. I understand why people love this novel so much but it didn't work for me in every place and it takes far too long to get going in a lot of ways. I think i'd still recommend it, but I wouldn't class it as an enjoyable read.
The Bad;
The pacing is the worst I've ever seen for a fiction novel- genuinely the slowest i've ever seen a "plot" progress and it does nothing but repreat the same few points over, and over, and over to the point where it's an exercise in reading. This is a personal gripe but I did find a lot of the vocabulary talk boring and deeply distracting from the character work and general motion of the novel, including the footnotes in this. Which brings me to another point, this is a fiction novel being written as a non fiction one, while also trying to have all the regular convention of a fantasy novel and it doesn't work! The first 50% nothing happens and then the next 40% the actual book happens and it's insane whiplash. The characters also suffer deeply because of this, they don't really serve as actual characters but as mouthpieces for whatever the book is wanting to say at that particular moment BUT sometimes they do act like actual characters and when they do I really like them! Robin was probably my favourite but only because we see him the most. Victorie isn't a character straight up and Ramy/Letty get served dishwater by the text of the novel. Also very minor gripe but i'll say it again and again, the repetition of the same "Later he would think back and-" drove me nuts! I get that it's to serve how Robin is trying to act like a bystander in his own story but Jesus fuck. The point that "they don't fit in/babel will never accept them/babel will never need them truly" is repeated so often, even at the end of the book it's the big thing that leads them to suiciding the tower but I don't understand why? I feel like it's unnecessary handholding when the book's messaging is deeply obvious at all times (not a bad thing by anymeans, and I do think this is a part of the tell, don't show thing the books got going on works).
The Good;
The message about colonisation is extremely well done and it's clear the book was researched to the nines. When the characters get time to be characters I really like them, and the latter half of the book is extremely good to read and does feel like a payoff to what came before. The ending in particular was very strong imo and a good summary of what the book achieved.
Overall just a strange read for me. I understand why people love this novel so much but it didn't work for me in every place and it takes far too long to get going in a lot of ways. I think i'd still recommend it, but I wouldn't class it as an enjoyable read.