thegreatnoodles 's review for:

Babel by R.F. Kuang

5.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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A tremendously powerful and beautifully written book about the struggles of inequality, the crushing might of colonialism and the violent, all consuming nature of capitalism. All mixed together in an alternate history, magically laced story about academia and language.

I cannot express how much I enjoyed reading this book, and how strongly I felt for all of its characters.

The only fault I can think of is that this’ll make so many future reads pale in comparison to Babel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Slavery, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury