Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

222 reviews

solarel's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

The first third of this book was an interesting dive into an academic and magical world. The rest of it was a slog. Plot twists occurred but felt more anxiety inducing than exciting. The last quarter of it that ramped up to the climax was just a passage of days and weeks where nothing happened at all. 

Conceptually the book discussed important themes with no subtlety, but there was nothing there to keep attention to. A bit disappointing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, War, Death of parent, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, and Domestic abuse

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

fizzieee's review against another edition

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

4.5

Intelligent and clear in its intentions.  Insightful and self-aware in a way I’ve never read before. The magic system is extremely unique and the structure of the novel leans heavily into its academic themes. R.F. Kuang seems to struggle with pacing in their novels, which is why I won’t give this the full 5 stars, but that “weakness” doesn’t prevent me from gobbling up the characters/subject matter of their novels. I’ll be thinking about this one for weeks (maybe years).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Violence, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Vomit, War, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Death, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

chiwirite's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Suicide, Racism, Classism, Death, and Drug use

Moderate: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, War, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Bullying, Xenophobia, Violence, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, Deportation, Addiction, Slavery, and Sexism

keirahelena_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Racism, Racial slurs, and Drug use

aisclaradm's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

I don’t say this lightly, but this is the best book I have ever read. A fascinating ode to languages, that  both discusses its exploitation by colonisers and uses it as a metaphor of sorts for the cruelty, evil and injustice of imperialism and capitalism. Beautiful story and a painfully relevant tale. Incredible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Murder, Toxic friendship, Racism, Violence, Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Torture

Moderate: Drug abuse, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Trafficking, War, Drug use, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Alcohol

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad fast-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 book is amazing. It feels classic, riffing on so many known qualities of well known books yet it still does its own thing. The history and ideas are implemented so intelligently that this fantasy feels more historic fiction than anything. The fantasy is really more for quickly explaining action and technology. The magic is in the language, the languages help define the characters and their dynamics with each other, it’s thrilling and heartbreaking at the same time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Xenophobia, Car accident, Cursing, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Islamophobia, Medical trauma, Trafficking, Violence, Body shaming, Cultural appropriation, Stalking, War, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, Confinement, Death, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Rape, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

All the themes said to be triggers are present, particularly the race and religion ones. There’s a scene where it appears that female characters could hypothetically be assaulted. The racism and discrimination on religion angles are throughout the book. The major theme of the book is reconciling existing within educational institutions in the west while the same people you’re learning from are harming your original homelands, whether you remember them or not, and the moral plus political repercussions of that.

arayo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Torture, Murder, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, Grief, Classism, Gun violence, and Slavery

Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Islamophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

vennas's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Murder, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Classism, and Racism

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Racial slurs, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, and Drug use

maryjames's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, War, Toxic friendship, Death, Gun violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Classism, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Drug use, Violence, Slavery, Child abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexism, and Blood

Minor: Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Slavery