A review by wornpagesandendlesscoffey
Babel by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I’ll need to sit with this book hangover for a bit. Kuang is a phenomenal story teller who brought this world to vibrant, beautiful life and I loved every second of it. Even the ones I hated. The universal truths in this novel are heartbreaking and stripped bare for the reader, which is dramatic and necessary to the story. This should be required reading for advanced students in my humble opinion. Fiction can be such a wonderful receptacle for truth. 


Note- there are a LOT of triggers. It is still well worth reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Colonisation, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Grief, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Child death, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, War, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Classism, and Suicide