A review by octavii42
Babel by R.F. Kuang

dark informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I found this book to be an enjoyable reading experience rather than being purely enjoyable. It is extremely well written and I found I was fully engaged in the story. Utterly fascinating, particularly at the beginning. I loved the academic side to this book more so than the action (I'm not big on action packed stories). However, there were a few things that bothered me. The magic system was interesting at first but then lost me after a while. It just felt a little unimaginative as a magic system. Though still interesting from a purely academic pov. And then there's the characters and the whole "found family" trope which didn't feel all that authentic. Letty was the biggest issue for me. 90% of her character was told to the reader instead of being shown. To such a degree that the other characters commentary on her was baffling at times. Everything they accused her of seemed to happen off camera (so to speak) which is so annoying for the reader. And this was the experience throughout the book...constantly being told what was what (instead of shown) to such an extent that I felt like I was being hit over the head by it. Particularly in the footnotes.