A review by emmatuftin
Babel by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’•π’“π’‚π’π’”π’π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’ π’Šπ’”, 𝑰 π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’Œ. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 π’”π’‘π’†π’‚π’Œπ’Šπ’π’ˆ π’Šπ’”. π‘³π’Šπ’”π’•π’†π’π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’•π’“π’šπ’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 π’šπ’π’–π’“ π’π’˜π’ π’ƒπ’Šπ’‚π’”π’†π’” 𝒕𝒐 π’ˆπ’π’Šπ’Žπ’‘π’”π’† π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’•π’‰π’†π’š 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’•π’“π’šπ’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒐 π’”π’‚π’š. π‘Ίπ’‰π’π’˜π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’šπ’π’–π’“π’”π’†π’π’‡ 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’˜π’π’“π’π’…, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’‰π’π’‘π’Šπ’π’ˆ π’”π’π’Žπ’†π’π’π’† 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔."

This is the most important historical fiction novel I have ever read. It's going to take me a while to truly process everything.

But for now let me say this: Stories are powerful. They can build empathy and understanding when it is otherwise impossible.

I am a white person. I will never truly understand. And yet, stories like this get me closer. They make it possible for me to listen better, to think more critically about my privilege and power. Because this history isn't just history. It's relevant today.

And yes. This book is beautiful. It's heartbreaking. But more importantly, it's a rally cry. 

And I'm sure other reviews do a better job of talking about everything else that's amazing about this book, but this is the impression it made upon me.