Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

75 reviews

lilmor's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

 lives up to every ounce of the hype; kuang has a gift for lending profound sincerity to a story that could easily feel forced or contrived.  this book is a slog for those of us who hate the british but if you can get past the suffocating (however necessary) anglicism of the first few chapters you will be rewarded hundredfold 😍👯

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Abandonment, Grief, Racism, Physical abuse, Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Death, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Police brutality, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, War, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Torture, Addiction, and Violence

nialiversuch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Suicide, Violence, Bullying, Confinement, Misogyny, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, War, and Xenophobia

sarahofstories's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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

@R. F. Kuang: WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation, Suicide, Xenophobia, Racism, Sexism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Trafficking, Violence, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, War, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Police brutality, Slavery, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Pandemic/Epidemic

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

sopherdopher's review

dark hopeful informative 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? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Colonisation, Death, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Physical abuse and Police brutality

Minor: Religious bigotry, Islamophobia, Drug use, and Slavery

talonsontypewriters's review

challenging dark emotional 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: Classism, Gun violence, Murder, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Sexism, Xenophobia, Torture, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Misogyny, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Gore, Confinement, War, Cultural appropriation, Islamophobia, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Vomit, Child death, Alcohol, and Addiction

notthatcosta's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.25

First and foremost I respect for R.F. Kuang’s ambition in building this world. The first section ended up being my favourite of all, mostly because its main focus was on establishing the complex parallel universe in which this world exists.

However, the middle section loses a lot of steam for me and ended up spending far too long hovering over tired literary tropes before kicking back into gear for the ending, which was saved by an excellent epilogue. What took me out of the book was how it sometimes directly placed itself within the 1800s in every sense and other times featured dialogue that felt like contemporary Twitter discourse about colonialism. 

Tonally the book was confusing, the motivations for the characters were sometimes unclear, but it is the masterful use of the discipline of translation that keeps the book grounded in intricacy and care.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Hate crime, Suicide, Sexual assault, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence

abby_bookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Racism, Violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Death, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Blood, and Child abuse

Minor: Addiction

colittle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

Reading this book is like being punched repeatedly in the throat. Five stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Torture, Suicide, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Death, and Colonisation

Moderate: Violence, Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, War, and Slavery

inesbng's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

words cannot describe what this book did to me
I just finished it five minutes ago and I'm trembling

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Colonisation, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, and Child abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, War, Religious bigotry, and Police brutality