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A review by cursed10fold
Babel by R.F. Kuang
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This book was quite a bit too long for what story was there. It feels like it should have been heavily edited so that the author could put more focus on the best parts of the story. Or if the author didn't feel like any parts could have been dropped, it should have been two books so that the poorly focused parts could have been explored more thoroughly.
For example, I was disappointed with how the women were handled in the story. In real-life Victorian England, less than half of women could read at all (much less go to university) so I thought that there would be interesting angles to explore as two main characters were women and students but the issue of sexism wasn't really explored beyond a few token mentions even though it was raised by the narrative. The more important of the two characters (whose POV comes at the very end as a sequel hook) didn't really get any focus until quite late in the story even though she was in most scenes throughout the book.
The author also adds a gay romance(?) which would be interesting to explore except that it happens so little that I forgot it was even a plot until the end of the book which leaves me wondering why it wasn't edited to either give it the time and breathing room it deserves (as it could have added a lot of depth to the two other characters in the core four) or removed to tighten up the main plot.
Lastly, I thought the anachronisms were jarring and distracting. One character is fairly modern for the most part (even speaking like someone from the 2020s/using modern terms like "narco-military state") but then goes back to blaming a woman for being sexually harassed with her friend by drunk men at a party. He blames her for suggesting going to the party in the first place and putting herself and her friend in danger instead of the men for harassing the two of them. When she brings up that she was almost assaulted too the narrator calls it "a bizarre line of argument". The way that scene was handled put a really bad taste in my mouth and I almost DNF-ed there. I kept going as I was hoping it would be used as a learning opportunity but it never comes up again and the character that blames her is treated as one of the most likeable characters by the story. I get that his attitude would have been common for the time but for that to be the one thing that's time-period accurate in how he speaks seems to be a really strange choice given that the narrative doesn't examine it or challenge him in any way. There are quite a few other unchallenged sexist remarks/tropes used throughout the story.
The stuff I did like was the first book/section; it was a good set up for the story and the racism/attitudes of Prof. Lovell and his colleagues was very well done and fairly accurate to real-life Victorian academic figures (check out some of the real figures that worked with King Leopold II). I also liked the magic system and wish there was more of it. Also some people were complaining about the slow pace but I actually liked the atmospheric descriptions in the early story. This book was ultimately very disappointing given that it had a relatively strong start and a very rushed/disjointed ending.
For example, I was disappointed with how the women were handled in the story. In real-life Victorian England, less than half of women could read at all (much less go to university) so I thought that there would be interesting angles to explore as two main characters were women and students but the issue of sexism wasn't really explored beyond a few token mentions even though it was raised by the narrative. The more important of the two characters (whose POV comes at the very end as a sequel hook) didn't really get any focus until quite late in the story even though she was in most scenes throughout the book.
The author also adds a gay romance(?) which would be interesting to explore except that it happens so little that I forgot it was even a plot until the end of the book which leaves me wondering why it wasn't edited to either give it the time and breathing room it deserves (as it could have added a lot of depth to the two other characters in the core four) or removed to tighten up the main plot.
Lastly, I thought the anachronisms were jarring and distracting. One character is fairly modern for the most part (even speaking like someone from the 2020s/using modern terms like "narco-military state") but then goes back to blaming a woman for being sexually harassed with her friend by drunk men at a party. He blames her for suggesting going to the party in the first place and putting herself and her friend in danger instead of the men for harassing the two of them. When she brings up that she was almost assaulted too the narrator calls it "a bizarre line of argument". The way that scene was handled put a really bad taste in my mouth and I almost DNF-ed there. I kept going as I was hoping it would be used as a learning opportunity but it never comes up again and the character that blames her is treated as one of the most likeable characters by the story. I get that his attitude would have been common for the time but for that to be the one thing that's time-period accurate in how he speaks seems to be a really strange choice given that the narrative doesn't examine it or challenge him in any way. There are quite a few other unchallenged sexist remarks/tropes used throughout the story.
The stuff I did like was the first book/section; it was a good set up for the story and the racism/attitudes of Prof. Lovell and his colleagues was very well done and fairly accurate to real-life Victorian academic figures (check out some of the real figures that worked with King Leopold II). I also liked the magic system and wish there was more of it. Also some people were complaining about the slow pace but I actually liked the atmospheric descriptions in the early story. This book was ultimately very disappointing given that it had a relatively strong start and a very rushed/disjointed ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment