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A review by skylarkblue1
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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I had high hopes for this book. I absolutely loved the premise and it's been constantly praised for being amazing. Unfortunately, I fall into what seems to be the minority with disliking this book.
Don't get me wrong, I still love the idea. A deep dive into language, translations, how colonisation effects language and how language is used as a commodity. But the writing style just really didn't suit me. Useless footnotes (except the like, 1 or 2 that actually added additional, relevant, information but seriously should have been within the actual book itself), really predictable writing (overly obvious foreshadowing, chapters structured in such a way that it's just so obvious how things will go, and more), and a lot of repetition.
For characters, I really didn't like them all that much except for Remy. Lettie I liked the least, she was basically kinda... just an asshole. Majority of the characters felt mostly flat - more so than what came from the circumstances/upbringing/context around them.
It's length, I'm split on. On one hand, the length is somewhat justified because there is just so much happening. On the other hand, there is a LOT of moments that are obvious "I just found this random fact/thing while researching, have it. No, it doesn't really add much". I love detailed world building, but when it seems like you threw in your research notes at random it doesn't really feel like - to me - careful detailed world building for your world. You spent a good while ranting in the opening authors note over the fact it's a fiction book, it's your version, etc etc but then try so hard to prove how much you researched and want to make things look smarter.
That authors note at the start though... Unironically put down the book for like a day or so directly after reading the note, before reading a single word of the actual book, just because the aggression and kinda demeaning tone of the note really put me off reading it. I hadn't read a single word of the actual book yet, but already the author was ranting about how I'm probably wrong about things. I literally couldn't care less about accuracy to the town, I'm reading a fictional *fantasy* I don't expect 100% accuracy. This aint a non-fiction history book.
tldr; Very interesting concept, very interesting themes, but for me I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was from a different author.
Don't get me wrong, I still love the idea. A deep dive into language, translations, how colonisation effects language and how language is used as a commodity. But the writing style just really didn't suit me. Useless footnotes (except the like, 1 or 2 that actually added additional, relevant, information but seriously should have been within the actual book itself), really predictable writing (overly obvious foreshadowing, chapters structured in such a way that it's just so obvious how things will go, and more), and a lot of repetition.
For characters, I really didn't like them all that much except for Remy. Lettie I liked the least, she was basically kinda... just an asshole. Majority of the characters felt mostly flat - more so than what came from the circumstances/upbringing/context around them.
It's length, I'm split on. On one hand, the length is somewhat justified because there is just so much happening. On the other hand, there is a LOT of moments that are obvious "I just found this random fact/thing while researching, have it. No, it doesn't really add much". I love detailed world building, but when it seems like you threw in your research notes at random it doesn't really feel like - to me - careful detailed world building for your world. You spent a good while ranting in the opening authors note over the fact it's a fiction book, it's your version, etc etc but then try so hard to prove how much you researched and want to make things look smarter.
That authors note at the start though... Unironically put down the book for like a day or so directly after reading the note, before reading a single word of the actual book, just because the aggression and kinda demeaning tone of the note really put me off reading it. I hadn't read a single word of the actual book yet, but already the author was ranting about how I'm probably wrong about things. I literally couldn't care less about accuracy to the town, I'm reading a fictional *fantasy* I don't expect 100% accuracy. This aint a non-fiction history book.
tldr; Very interesting concept, very interesting themes, but for me I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was from a different author.
Content Warnings
Honestly? Just check the full list of all the content warnings submitted by users. There's nearly like, every content warning here in the book in varying amounts. Key ones being Racism, Colonialism, Misogyny, Slavery, Torture and basically kinda everything around those things.