A review by swalk
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

An epic fantasy book of dark academia, which is truly captivating. The research put into this book, paired with the amazing world building really makes this fascinating and convincing.

Years of British colonialism, culminates in deep seated racism, leading to resentment and power struggles in a world of magic, not that very different from our own. 

The characters are nuanced and well rounded, meaning I was fully invested in what happened to each one. 

The comparisons to Philip Pullman are well deserved. This is a fantastic  and thought-provoking book. I feel privileged to have been given a copy of this book to review by HarperCollins and Netgalley.
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