The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
not_asha01's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Grief, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, War, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Blood, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Medical content, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Abandonment, Vomit, Alcohol, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia
Minor: Addiction
emsavors's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Confinement, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, Child death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Xenophobia, Genocide, Grief, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Hate crime, Torture, and Toxic friendship
noahsingh's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
 Ramy, Victorie and Robin are gonna stay with me for a While.
Graphic: Torture, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, War, Vomit, Suicide, Islamophobia, Confinement, Grief, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, and Violence
uranaishi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Grief, Torture, Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Racism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Violence, Medical content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Sexism, Abandonment, Classism, Cursing, and Death
Minor: Car accident, Child death, War, Rape, Genocide, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Infidelity, and Deportation
bookishmaggie's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Toxic friendship, Torture, Racial slurs, War, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Bullying, Child abuse, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Xenophobia, Violence, Blood, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts
anais201717's review against another edition
- 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
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!Â
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)Â
I highly recommend reading Babel and Poppy war !!
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, and Child abuse
Moderate: Islamophobia, War, and Sexism
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Gun violence
annemaries_shelves's review against another edition
- 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
Babel was a big project, and Kuang tackled a lot of themes in 542 pages. Her writing style is a little more 'on the nose' and direct when exploring themes and discussing them through dialogue. For this reason, it won't work for every reader, but it worked for me. There was also a lot of foreshadowing and laying of tracks to the resolution and I felt it was well done. It's relatively easy to pick up on but in the grand length and scope of the novel, those hints are easy to lose track of.
On the surface, there's a lot of discussion around language, translation, and the power of words. The dark academia elements shine here, with a lot of classroom discussion around language, studying, and the role of communication between people, cultures, and in power dynamics.
Woven throughout these discussions, and in our main characters' experiences, are the themes of colonialism, power (again), race, gender, and class. Because our main character, Robin, and 2 others in his cohort of 4 are from colonized and non-European countries, their experiences at Oxford are shaped by how others perceive and treat them. With few exceptions, we're always in Robin's POV, so we rarely get the gender element that Letty (a white woman) and Victoire (a Black woman) experience at Oxford.Â
Having it set in magical 1830s Oxford was smart - it gave Kuang a lot of room to maneuver with respect to the historical events happening - many of which are mirroring today's events and discontent/rising up. Today's events and international relations are a direct result of the actions of 19th century Europe (the British Empire in particular) and it's fascinating in the horrifying kind of way to see those threads' origins in this alternate history.
I do have some minor quibbles. The pacing was a little off at times. The last 100 pages tackled a lot and felt almost rushed in comparison to the pacing of the previous 400+ pages. It may have been intentional to mimic the feeling of revolution, but I think more time and space could've been dedicated to this part. I also really wanted more interludes with other characters. So much of the novel is solely in Robin's head and I feel like some characters' voices could've been heard more.Â
The character work was great overall though despite the limited POV. I did get a good sense of who Ramy, Victoire, and Letty were and other side characters: Playfair (fuck him), Lovell (fuck him), Sterling Jones (fuck him), and Anthony and Griffin (bless them) in particular. Letty was an infuriating foil to Robin, Ramy, and Victoire - the scene where <i>they</i> have to comfort <i>her</i> after explaining how difficult it is to be Chinese, Brown (and Muslim), and a Black woman respectively in Oxford was so well done.
A slightly more subtle themes was the importance of collective action. The novel demonstrates how oppressors keep people separated by arbitrary divisions of race, gender, class, religion, etc. because it's easier to maintain power and control when there's fighting across oppressed groups and marginalized identities. Propaganda and misinformation was also used effectively - particularly in the Canton scenes and last 100 pages.Â
Reading Babel right now with the genocide happening in Palestine perpetrated by the Israeli government was... impactful to say the least. Babel also reinforced how important action is because discussing theories in our ivories towers does very little to fix systemic issues and make change. Even if we all have a small part, together change is possible with different avenues available to us.
Overall, if these themes or genres appeal at all, I highly recommend reading this book. Even better if you can read alongside someone else, because you WILL want to discuss events along the way. I hope at this point in the 2020s many of the themes of conversations within the book around power, colonialism, race, class, etc. will be familiar to readers (with or without similar lived experiences to the characters). But if not, I think it'll be an important read to help learn, contextualize, and personalize the lived experiences of many folks and the larger concepts discussed within.
<b>Okay now I'm going to get more into spoilers so consider yourself warned!!</b>
The first introduction to Griffin was intriguing and mysterious. This man who looked exactly like Robin had me thinking doppelganger or time travel. It turns out they're half-brothers through their father. Griffin exemplifies the 'violence is the only answer to colonialism' perspective (contrasting Anthony's pacifist role and Robin's 'let's fall in with the oppressors to survive role initially'). Robin's experiences were nicely contrasted with his brother's to show that nature vs. nurture element. Generally their dynamic and conversations were great and I loved seeing how Robin grew to share Griffin's perspective on violence based off his own experiences (radicalization through grief essentially). Griffin definitely deserves his own story one day, although I'm happy with Babel to be a standalone.
I found the last part of the book really focuses on what grief and violence does to a person. How it can shield or desensitize you to the human cost of necessary violence. Even if the hard choices are 'right', it's easy to lose that sense of morality/feeling pursuing the means to the end. The final conversation between Professor Chakraborty and Robin was heartfelt and tragic - especially learning what happens afterwards.
While I sobbed through a lot of deaths (except Lovell and Jones because fuck them), the fact that Victoire ultimately survived was wonderful. So many characters were willing to die (which can be important to the cause) but her desire to live, survive, and thrive was just as important. I wish we had more of her POV because she was such a pillar of strength to Robin by the end and her experiences at Oxford with Letty had gone unnoticed by Robin and thus the readers to a certain degree.Â
Finally, the unfulfilled potential of Ramy and Robin's relationship destroyed me. From the moment they were on page together, I sensed the strong queer subtext of their friendship. But alas, nothing is ever truly spoken or acknowledged; and it's only hinted at by the depth of Robin's grief at Ramy's murder. So fuck Letty too.
 I also wanted dearly to know Robin's birth name and we never do find out... and maybe that's the point.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, Classism, Colonisation, Gun violence, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Racial slurs, Torture, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny
Minor: Islamophobia, Child abuse, and Slavery
tbd24's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Murder, Domestic abuse, Torture, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Religious bigotry, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Trafficking, Addiction, Islamophobia, Ableism, Toxic friendship, War, Slavery, and Sexism
jelliestars's review against another edition
- 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
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
setaggu's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Physical abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Gaslighting, Grief, Islamophobia, Racism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Medical content
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Vomit and Sexual harassment