Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

541 reviews

d6ni_3la's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This book is about the might and beauty of different languages. About identity crisis, human relationships, sacrifices and morals.
If you love languages, their structure, their history, their characteristics, then you'll love this one. Later in the book, you'll also see Robin, a boy who was teared away from his hometown Canton and brought to England, struggling with his identity. Is he now Chinese or English? 
Also the friendship between the four students is worth reading.
Beautiful, beautiful book.
Loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Hate crime, Death, Death of parent, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail

jwells's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad

This book resets the standard for "dark academia." Something like The Secret History, by contrast, might be set in what's supposed to be the real world, but is so obviously a cartoon version (see my cranky review) that it's just a fun thriller. Babel is set in the real world, but constantly reminds us that it's about the real world, in all the important ways. It really leans into the love for the academic world: the picturesque campus, the cozy libraries, the dedicated search for knowledge, a sense of found family with your cohort, reading books with cups of tea by the fireside, late into the night... and then it forces us to acknowledge that that lovely world is built on top of exploitation and injustice. Once we've felt that sense of betrayal right alongside Robin, we get to consider whether the subtitle of the book is correct: Is violence necessary, to start the world along a different path? If not, what is the answer?

An exceptional book. I found it very hard to put it down every night, but it's just too long to gulp down at one sitting. Incidentally, it has a remarkably beautiful magic system based on pairs of words in two different languages that mean almost - but not - the same thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, and Racism

ineedmorecoffee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

I loved this book. An epic tale, with so many incisive observations about the nature of colonialism and power.

Ramy’s death, I felt like I’d been injured, he was that well written that I rooted for him.

A long book, but definitely worth getting stuck into.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Death of parent, Drug use, Trafficking, Suicide, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and War

guessgreenleaf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, War, Racial slurs, Murder, Hate crime, Death of parent, Death, Torture, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Classism, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, and Sexism

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Violence

book_voyager's review against another edition

3.75

3 quarters of these book reminded a bit about Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. Academic students becoming friends, secret societies, things they have to keep hidden… Just add on politics and more speculative fiction.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this book, like I enjoy Tartt’s book. I find academia related stories interesting, especially when they are related to languages. However, sometimes this books academics were heavy and I admit skipping footnotes more than once. I don’t think everything needs to be explained.

This is not a happy book. It’s still a good one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Torture, Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Death, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Slavery

emsavors's review against another edition

dark emotional 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: 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

tanwe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs, War, and Death of parent

opinkb's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

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

acvhawk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, War, Classism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Sexism, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Death, Suicide, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, and Racism

ashleydavies1813's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

This book. Wow. Just wow. It's amazing. Make sure you check triggers as needed because this books has A LOT of triggers. I love the reimaging of the Industrial Revolution as powered by silver rather than coal and the focus on how academia is implicated in colonial systems. The ending was so good. I wished for more, but the elisions I think are intentional and are part of Kuang's point. I both have too many thoughts and no thoughts. Be prepared to stay up super late once you get to the latter parts, because you'll need to know how this book ends immediately. I'm going to have to get The Poppy War trilogy ASAP now to read more of Kuang's amazing work. 

Did anyone else see Ramy/Robin's relationship as queer-coded? I'm wondering if part of the reason Ramy doesn't see Letty in a romantic light is because he's queer? (Though to be clear, there are A LOT of reasons why Ramy might not want to be in a relationship with Letty. Like so many). In a lot of passages throughout the novel, but especially Ramy/Robin's instant connection and Robin's response after Ramy's death really made me see their relationship as being more than just a close friendship

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Death, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Violence, Torture, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Racism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, Child death, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug use, War, Classism, Slavery, and Police brutality

Minor: Confinement and Infidelity