Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

117 reviews

beccaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Classism, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Death, Racial slurs, Colonisation, War, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Toxic friendship, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Genocide, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Cultural appropriation

stellarstar's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

It's about the philosophy of translating, and what is lost in the process. And, the extent which the powers that be (British Empire in this case) would go to, to ensure superiority over others, by using their languages in very innovative and unpleasant ways! The language research done to write this book, must have taken years!! Extremely well written, very creative, and a brilliant, if not always pleasant, read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse and Slavery

scorpioness's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

It was good, it got slow, and the writing kind of fell flat to me because it just felt like it was trying to capture everything exactly and a little scientifically instead of poetically, but the ending saved it and the message was so powerful and relevant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, War, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Drug use, Slavery, and Murder

solari's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

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

4.25

An introduction to racism and colonialism are bad told in a fantasty setting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Slavery, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Genocide, Sexual harassment, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Deportation, Bullying, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: War

As an adult fantasty reader I was intrigued by the premise when reccomended this book by multiple friends. However it seems to be an interesting heartbreaking revolution tale wrapped up in magic school wrapping paper. Perhaps better for middle school or high school readers? For fans who have graduated from Harry Potter? I was also a bit disappointed by the lack of intersectionalism, when both racism and sexism are given their space.

jelliestars's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-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? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Torture, Colonisation, Gun violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Gore, Torture, Child abuse, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Classism, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, War, and Addiction

Minor: Child death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Trafficking, Car accident, Genocide, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Vomit, Confinement, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders

marleennieke's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

It's an interesting story and I learned a lot while reading. Unfo tunately for me, as someone who enjoys reading more about characters, the book lacked some depth, especially in the beginning. The book is packed with historical and linguistic information, which slowed down the book too much for me and made it hard to read at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Addiction and Drug abuse

scmiller's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Physical abuse, Racism, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Torture, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Child abuse, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, War, Toxic friendship, and Trafficking

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Addiction, Infidelity, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, Drug abuse, and Vomit

viporras's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Racism, Violence, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, War, and Xenophobia

stagemanaginger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.25

No surprise that it’s very well-written. It felt like it took 2/3 of the book for anything to really happen, but because the writing was so good I didn’t mind continuing to read it. The last third of the book is what made it for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Death, Murder, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Violence, War, and Slavery

Minor: Abandonment

bessjoyce's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Slavery, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Drug use