A review by river69rat
Babel by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark informative tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

An absolutely fantastic and clearly deeply researched novel surrounding the power of language at the height of British colonialism.

The way past colonial actions shape our world today is something I'm really interested in, this book opened my mind up to so many perspectives and challenged me at points. I also loved the use of ideas around the 'good' immigrant and the way that means assimilating yourself entirely to a culture that will never actually respect you.

I think this book is especially poignant with the current extremely hostile atmosphere around immigrants in the UK, and a rise in the racist depiction of who is 'actually' British.

I had one small gripe that stopped this being 5* and that's the authors notes. Personally I did not need the authors own voice and I found it very distracting throughout. 

Still a fantastic book that I'm ashamed I'd put off reading until now!
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