Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

308 reviews

hollokim's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

Moderate: Slavery, Sexism, Suicide, Murder, and Misogyny

slinders's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Classism, Colonisation, Murder, Xenophobia, Death, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Deportation, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Genocide, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Torture, and Abandonment

manonh90's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Classism, Death, Racism, Religious bigotry, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, War, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Murder, and Racial slurs

elenaluisa's review against another edition

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

5.0

Favourite book of the year. Would recommend to anyone and everyone. Particularly those who (like me) are white and from coloniser countries. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Colonisation, Classism, Deportation, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Gaslighting, Violence, Racism, Misogyny, Bullying, Classism, Death, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Xenophobia

lottiegasp's review against another edition

adventurous informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

This novel is a speculative historical fiction set in 1830s England where the practice of "silver-working" involves uttering to a piece of silver a word translated into two different languages and the gap in meaning between those translational manifests as energy in the silver. The story centres around Robin Swift, a boy born in Canton who loses his family as a boy and is taken in by a mysterious guardian who sets him up for success as a translation student at Babel, Oxford, the world centre of silver-working.

Robin and his classmates are offered some glory for studying at Babel. But they soon come to realise that while their foreigness is what makes them so great at silver-working by virtue of their aptitute in several languages, they will always be made to feel like second-class citizens and perpetual foreigners in England.

The story covers various important social and political themes including racism, misogyny and how the two intersect; white privilege and how rare it is to give that up; class and racial solidarity; the history of colonialism especially the UK in China (the opium wars) and India.

The book is very well-written. I sometimes find the dialogue and writing style in historical fiction to be forced in trying to be old-timey, but I found it really natural in this one. I loved the ways that etymologies and translations were woven into the story, especially as an insight into different cultural perspectives 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Racism

nicksalex's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Child abuse, Torture, Sexism, Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Misogyny, Death, Blood, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

sophiamoonlight's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Drug use, Colonisation, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Kidnapping, and Grief

clareehebert's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Racism, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Islamophobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Child abuse

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Blood, Colonisation, Violence, Xenophobia, Classism, Death of parent, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical trauma, War, Body horror, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Torture, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Deportation, Islamophobia, Medical content, Slavery, Terminal illness, Ableism, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Sexism, and Trafficking

Minor: Excrement, Infidelity, Car accident, Alcoholism, and Addiction

clcwhitaker's review against another edition

challenging informative mysterious

• 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? No

3.75

I love the idea behind this book. The commentary on liguistics and colonialism are fascinating. The magical realism pieces were creative. However, the pace felt erratic. It dragged then rushed. It left me feeling a bit fatigued.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, and Racial slurs