Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

561 reviews

ultravioletcatastrophe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

I love this book for many reasons: the focus on language and linguistics, the smart interrogation of how power functions and its relationship to violence, and especially for the refusal to play the false equivalence game between revolutionary anticolonial violence and the violence of a colonial power, while also not romanticising the former.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, and Torture

Main character death

leweylibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

5.0

I have to come back to this later because it's freaking 5am, but I just wanted to leave this bit so I know where the heck to start with this review later. But I just want to start by saying that this book has WRECKED me. Devastated. Shredded me to bits. I really do not know how I just go about my life now?? My brain is throbbing and feeling irrevocably changed. This book hit me so hard in so many ways. I have THREE NOTES WORTH of quotes like what?? How?? How is any one person THAT gifted with words. Kuang is just... I ironically just don't have the words for her brilliance, but it's undeniable. I am pretty sure I have never ever wept reading a book simplt because of how beautiful passages were, but I did at least three times reading this book. This needs to be studied and analyzed in classes not just for its brilliance but for its contents. I know not everyone will, but everyone should read this book. It is just spot on about so many things and can open so many eyes to vital aspects about our society and our own humanity. Everything about how we communicate and interact, the power of words and languages, the bonds we form and the bonds that break, EVERYTHING about academia (the good, the bad, the UGLY), obviously colonialism and racism, just SO MANY powerful and important topics are covered in this book and it has BROKEN my brain. Just shattered to smithereens. I will not sleep another peaceful night now because this book is now my new Roman Empire. I will be on my deathbed and sit up just to be like "okay but I'm just now realizing, there's this one part in Babel where..." 

So yeah. Read this book. LISTEN to this book. Internalize it. But don't do so lightly because yes; it will break you. And you will be grateful for it. It'll hurt like hell in a multitude of ways, ways you didn't even know you could be broken, but you'll be grateful. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Child abuse, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Murder, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Colonisation, Racism, Grief, Death, Religious bigotry, Classism, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Bullying, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, and Drug use

erenreads12's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

With the Poppy War series one of my favourite pieces of literature I so hoped I wasn't going to be disappointed, and I was so beyond impressed. Although I'm not without criticisms it would have been disingenuous not to give this 5 stars purely based on how deeply this impacted and moved me. R. F. Kuang is a true master of her craft. 

I'm gonna go and sit in a dark room sobbing now.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Sexism

Moderate: Death of parent and Blood

Minor: Infidelity

eudaemonics's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Gun violence, Murder, Sexism, Xenophobia, War, Racism, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Physical abuse, Suicide, Misogyny, and Alcoholism

juliatsang's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Blood, Colonisation, Murder, Grief, Violence, War, Racism, Emotional abuse, Death, Classism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide, Addiction, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Slavery, and Drug abuse

ewmod's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Banger.
Imo it's sold short by its own marketing; the question of the merits of violence vs nonviolence was only really touched on in the last, like, quarter of the book and even then I found it a leeeeettle shallow and a bit muddled by character arcs that ?arguably? contradict the thesis. Really what resonated with me was the (imo much more in-depth and insightful) discussion of the responsibilies that people living in the imperial core have when it comes to anticolonial action. Not "should revolution use violence" but "who should use the violence." Ok maybe I am splitting hairs.
Also the blunt, extremely-omniscient-narrator style was not to my typical taste and took some time to get used to. But that is just personal preference.
Again: banger.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Sexism and Slavery

dannilmp's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

Babel is not a book I thought I would find myself picking up this year. Initially I had heard of it in comparison to Donna Tarrt's The Secret History. As I found the second book a struggle to read in places, I did not have much hope for Babel but was pleasantly suprised! 

Babel is an engaging read encouraging the reader to reflect on the progression of colonisation from the United Kingdom but with a magical element in the form of translation pairs and the power these posess to accomplish great things. From start to end you can see the detail into research into Language, History, Colonisation and Cultures that Kuang has gone to in order to create this informed book. Personally I think the addition of the explanation footnotes was brilliant otherwise there are many times I wouldn't have really understood certain references or situations. 

I personally couldn't find fault with this book aside from the pace feeling slow for the first 3/4 and then the ending feeling quite rapid and rushed in comparison. The ending of this book and the meaning around it are what captivated me the most and has stuck with me since I finished reading this book. I certainly prefered Babel to The Secret History. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Death, Colonisation, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, and Racial slurs

lauralfp's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective 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

This book is about to be my new Roman Empire

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, War, and Racism

Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Physical abuse, and Classism

Minor: Slavery and Death of parent

aishallnot's review

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Racial slurs, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

celinbean's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.0

well i finally did it lol only took me over a year to finish 

it was slow and took awhile to built up and get to the actually juicy part but in true rf kuang fashion the ending packed a punch and made me cry 🥲

i might write more later 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Classism, Suicide, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Child abuse

Moderate: Murder, Torture, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Slavery

Minor: Addiction