Reviews tagging 'War'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

596 reviews

johnbat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Grief, Misogyny, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Torture, Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, War, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Racial slurs, Blood, Child abuse, and Death

ttumbletree's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Classism, Emotional abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, War, Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Slavery, Violence, and Death

raineydayreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

the first 50%: heehoo the scholars are in babel

the last 50%: OH MY GOD

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Racism, and Racial slurs

Minor: War

hannah_beth_charles's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

I love how the author infused history and magic seamlessly. Translation in silver working and its role in colonization was so smart and that struggle the non-white translation students have with having privilege that other POCs don't have and deciding to either use it and lose your prestigious position or being part of the system and deciding to ignore apart of yourself to be accepted by the white man. I learnt so much about the inner workings of colonization and how truly connected the countries that England exploited are. As a South African, I know about England's colonization in my country, but I hadn't really thought about the others places. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racial slurs, Colonisation, Death, Sexism, Toxic friendship, War, Racism, and Forced institutionalization

jomalou's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Racism

Moderate: War

anais201717's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I don't think I have the words to describe the masterpiece I've just read. 
Like it feels so real. Ofc magic doesn't exist in the real world but everything else does. And it is so wrong. The amount of thinking about the world brought by this book is just impossible to describe! 
It feels like Poppy war but seen by the people of colonised country living in England. To me the books complete themselves perfectly (and are amazing) 
I highly recommend reading Babel and Poppy war !!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, and Child abuse

Moderate: Islamophobia, War, and Sexism

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Gun violence

tifftastic87's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-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

This is a strong recommendation for complex world building, deep characters, analysis of colonialism, racism and sexism and their inherent ties to academia and the British Empire. It was brutal in its evisceration of both academia and the British Empire, but beautifully written and thoroughly researched. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Slavery, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Medical content, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Hate crime, Blood, and War

moss_wood's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This was a masterful piece, I was so immersed in the world and lives of the characters. The experience of chosen family is probably the best I’ve ever read. It is magical, inspiring, gripping and sweet. A big commitment of a book for me but it was constructed in a way I couldn’t stop being obsessed with it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, and Racism

hayley98's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Racism, Blood, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Classism, Suicide, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, War, and Slavery

Minor: Addiction and Alcohol

chilliam_mc's review against another edition

medium-paced

5.0

A brilliant book. By the end, I was a mess but completely floored. And what an extremely timely read. FREE PALESTINE. And may all settler colonial states fall swiftly. 

One of my fav quotes: 
“It revealed the sheer dependence of the British, who, astonishingly, could not manage to do basic things like bake bread or get safely from one place to another without words stolen from other countries.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Racism, and Slavery