Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

76 reviews

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

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

noahsingh's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Easily a new favourite book, can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book this much.
 Ramy, Victorie and Robin are gonna stay with me for a While.

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Content Warnings

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

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

shlymiller'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is a great read, a fascinating magic system, and an intriguing storyline. It’s also a hard, heavy read. I’m glad I read it, but be prepared to leave brain space for heavy, real themes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Racism, War, Suicide, Death, Violence, Colonisation, Classism, Physical abuse, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Blood, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcohol and Confinement

deedubb's review against another edition

challenging hopeful inspiring 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

One of my only 5 stars ever. It is enlightening and exposes the nasty truth of colonialism and white supremacy.

I genuinely could not have predicted the ending. I didn’t burst into tears until robin and victoire separated

I will think about this book often

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Suicide, War, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Violence, Slavery, Mental illness, Racism, Murder, Colonisation, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death, Cultural appropriation, Confinement, Abandonment, Blood, and Alcohol

tbd24's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

this book was my niche exactly so I feel a little biased but I liked it a lot. The writing was very good and evocative, I found myself literally gasping aloud or beginning to sweat during tense parts of the book. Very good character writing and development, though I was a little disappointed

Rami and Robin were only ever subtext, I would have been a bit more satisfied if they had a proper conversation about it, even once, especially since they were gonna die in the end anyway so what did the author have to lose. I feel like the reason it was never explicit is because the author didn’t know how to write a conversation like that and still keep the historical realism, though others have done this well. idk, it just disappointed me

. Overall, the only reason this was not a five star read for me was the pacing was a little bit too sporadic for my taste. There were drawn out moments that I wish had been shorter and quick fly by scenes that I wish we could have relished in. But other than that, loved it, and will defs read again

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Content Warnings

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

sn03's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Colonisation, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Grief, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide, Torture, and War

Minor: Alcohol

thebankofbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racism, War, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death of parent, Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Torture

sydneylmeyer7's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Racism, Torture, Racial slurs, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Slavery and War