Review by allie_bee_alexis - Babel

allie_bee_alexis 's review for:

Babel by R.F. Kuang

5.0

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

To me, this book is a masterpiece. I am so thoroughly impressed with R.F. Kuang and her ability to craft such a full novel filled to the brim with emotion, intellect, empathy, and revolution.

I think this is a book worth reading for all, especially in the trying times of our world right now. The capitalist system is crumbling and we can see direct correlation between events in this story and our current day. I am grateful for the amount of insight this book provided me on such complicated topics and for the quotes I will pull from the text to verbalize my world view.

This is technically a fantasy novel but on every single page you learn something factual about our actual history and reality. Being able to mesh a “magic” system so seamlessly into history books is a feat. It also made the reading experience incredibly educational while simultaneously avoiding being dull in the way educational text often can be. It felt like finding real world Easter eggs hidden in the binding, whether it was a brief mention of a coffee shop or the author of a publication, every single piece of trivia that could be kept true, was. I loved it. And oh my goodness, calling all etymology nerds!!! This was a field day for my curious brain that grew up with a father who studied etymology. I learned so much, took notes, and am reporting back to my Dad with all of the fun language facts I learned and I’m pumped.

In all honesty, my only note would be that the asterisks in my paperback UK copy were terribly small and I often found I missed them when I got to the bottom of a page and hit a footnote that I’d missed because it was so well hidden. On many occasions I had to go hunting for the asterisk and those were far less fun than the factual Easter eggs. But that is a publishing note if anything. The text itself? Immaculate and I adored it. I’m heartbroken in the beautiful way that occurs when you realize you don’t have any more fresh words to read of a beloved story.

Content Warnings