A review by lilacs_book_bower
Babel by R.F. Kuang

challenging dark sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I have such mixed feelings on this one!  I am glad I read it, and it's an important story to be told about colonization and appropriation.  But ultimately, I never cared about any of the characters, so nothing that happened to them affected me, and I wanted more.  Even though the magic system is there, it felt so mundane, like it almost doesn't qualify as a fantasy.  I didn't mind the footnotes; however, there were a few instances of character backstory or development tucked away in them, and I thought that was odd.  Definitely should have been in the main text, as I am sure not everyone read every footnote (I didn't), and footnotes seem a strange place for info about characters. I did love all the parts about the languages and the history of the words.  
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