A review by moonbasket
Babel by R.F. Kuang

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative reflective tense slow-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

5.0

This book was extremely good. I found the overall exploration of language and the exploitation of British colonialism extremely well done within the context of the novel. It was also extremely well researched and the footnotes made it feel like a non-fiction book in a way that really fit the theme.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity, Slavery, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Child abuse is in chapter 2 and not telegraphed. The blood and violence is pretty well telegraphed by the narrative. The racism is part and parcel for the time period, but still upsetting.