A review by uknow
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang

challenging informative tense fast-paced

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

4.25

maybe, probably, misinterpreted as dark academia (as the internet of recent years have warped the term and what it means into a facsimile of itself), babel is most gripping, most interesting, and most fascinating when it leans fully in its historical fantasy mark and the etymology and linguistic prowess at its core. while certainly divisive in what it prefers to tell rather than show, it can be argued that a book revolving around the importance of language and its variety maybe excels in spite of, and, because of its almost single-minded focus on what it tells the reader, even if sacrifices have to be made in terms of plot structure and, sometimes, character illustration. 

rf kuang’s prose at an unparalleled best of hers yet, and a high-point that is only going to usher her into a new direction of writing.