Reviews with content warning for Racism - Babel: An Arcane History

i fear my brain chemistry has been changed forever. there was so much love and effort put into this book and u can feel it on every page... i cannot stop crying thinking about all of it.
the only "criticism" i have is that i would have enjoyed more dialogue over the narration sometimes but. honestly the book is perfect to me regardless

Content Warnings

raineydayreads's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

laraloops's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative 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

This book absolutely destroyed me. It's my first try in dark academia and it does not disappoint but it does make me very sad. It's very well written and very much wears the author's experiences in Oxford on its sleeves. Oxford is it's own character and the author has alot to say about it and the imperialist powers at work in Oxford and in England as a whole.

I do very much appreciate a book that does not hold its punches back with the imperialism and blatant racism of the time period. There are times that fantasy can be an escape from reality but this book shows the very real evil that comes with the white imperialist, capitalists that the British and other European powers were and what they absolutely would do if provided with magic.

The magic in the story is cool but the real magic in this book is the language - something that can be found in our own world. This book may feel like an academic paper at times but the beauty really shows in how the author describes language, translation, and etymology. Like the main character I found myself wondering at the meanings of words I used daily after reading this book.

You can feel the way the author really wants to pull you into their world and experiences and I enjoyed it though I needed a box of Kleenex to get me through it.

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deannahall14's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Im so sick omg

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alica2's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative 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? Yes

5.0

ough....this book was So...

I love a book that makes me think and feel, and boy howdy did I. I really liked the premise because not only does it provide an interesting angle on colonization (with the idea of plumbing a foreign language for its differences compared to English in the same way countries are currently and have historically been plumbed for natural resources) but also about the impacts colonization has on culture (and individuals themselves) through language. As a language learner with an interest in translation as well, I really appreciated the more philosophical discussions about translation theories too. There was also the theme of academia serving as a weapon of empire, which isn't something I've seen explored often in fantasy settings.

Speaking of setting, I loved the twist this book took with adding language-based magic to a historical era. It was easy for me to see how Britain, even in a world with magical elements, could construct an empire in the same way it historically did due to violence, coercion, and a monopoly of resources, all of which the book took great care to explain.

The beginning and the latter third were a lot stronger to me than the middle, which felt like it dragged at parts. I also felt like most of the relationship development between the four main characters was told rather than shown, and what parts were shown through dialogue seemed to contradict what we were being told, especially regarding Letty. While I do think Letty was a good demonstration of

Spoiler

the failures of white feminism and the danger of whiteness as a social construct in general

, it also didn't feel

Spoiler

as much of a betrayal as it had been built up to be

because I didn't get the sense that

Spoiler

Robin ever truly saw Letty as anything more than a nuisance, despite being told over and over that he (and the others) really did love her

. I also would have liked more development between Robin and Victoire given that

Spoiler

they become foils for each other by the end with their different perspectives of how to proceed with the strike, and how they as individuals want to proceed when the army comes to forcibly end the strike

. A lot more time was dedicated to developing Robin and Ramy's relationship versus Robin with the girls, so I think even one or two more scenes dedicated to those relationships specifically would have made for a more powerful impact.

With that said though, there was never any point in the book that I didn't understand Robin himself as a character. There were many times along the way where I found myself thinking that I might have acted similarly as him, and it made me reflect on my own morals. Also, the part where

Spoiler

Robin kills Lovell

in particular still sticks with me, because even though it was never really stated I had such a vivid image of the part from the beginning of the book when

Spoiler

Lovell beats Robin

, and I felt like I knew exactly where Robin was coming from in that moment. I also really liked seeing the ways that

Spoiler

grief impacts Robin

in the last part of the book, especially in how it changes the decisions that he makes. I thought that Lovell also made an excellent villain because of the few moments of humanity we see in him. He was unequivocally detestable in his racism, but the fact that he had those small moments (I think all of which were nostalgia about Oxford, which is certainly commentary in and of itself LOLOL) made him feel more real and therefore more dangerous.

Overall I think the book did an amazing job at tackling so many difficult themes, and doing so in a way that balanced character development against dense academic explanations of its magic system. It challenged my own understanding of myself, my morals, and my privileges - often in uncomfortable ways - and left me with a haunting ending that asks hard questions with no easy answers.

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copiani's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

hannah_beth_charles's review against another edition

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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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jomalou's review against another edition

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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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