Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

28 reviews

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Classism, Violence, Toxic friendship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Racism, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Grief, Gore, Gaslighting, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Moderate: Car accident, Ableism, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Drug use, Death, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

This is an important read, but will be extremely triggering for AAPI + BIPOC readers.

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

saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition

challenging 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

RTC

When people ask me what my favorite books are this is going to be one of my answers 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Blood, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, and Alcohol

rebelscum's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Sexism, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, and Colonisation

Minor: Medical content

catherinedsharp's review

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

Really interesting exploration of colonialism, racism and sexism (amongst other topics) within academia. Found it a little difficult to grapple with at times as despite it being fiction, it includes a lot of information and facts. Would recommend although check out the trigger warnings as it can be brutally described at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Blood, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Slavery, Medical content, War, and Misogyny

applejacksbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.5

I'll start this off by saying this book isn't for everyone, but everyone should read it. Its ending alone isn't a happy one. That being said I absolutely enjoyed my time while reading it. From the footnotes, to the history of how we understand language today, to the conversations about colonialism and racism and how we (as white people) have abused and taken from everyone not to better and learn but because we can, this book is a master class in all of it. It's well researched and executed and I couldn't put it down when I was reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Abandonment, Colonisation, Violence, Classism, Gun violence, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

krows_ink's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

"A permanent dialogue with oneself and an increasingly obscene narcissism never ceased to prepare the way for a half delirious state, where intellectual work became suffering and the reality was not at all that of a living man, working and creating himself, but rather words, different combinations of words, and the tensions springing from the meanings contained in words." - Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, Transcribed by Dominic Tweedie.

Initially, when I picked up Babel I didn't think that I would like it nearly as much as I do now that I have finished. There is something hauntingly beautiful and soul-wrenching contained in these pages. The world feels real because it mostly is. The characters are deeply flawed - each one of them. The writing is exceptional and the use of language use is so profound that I cannot seem to comment on it. Truly, most of my words (ironically) seem to have escaped me even almost 24 hours after completing the novel.

R.F. Kuang's commentary on imperialism and colonialism is incredibly well crafted. Not to mention her exploration of internalized oppression, white supremacy culture, and white feminism. While some may state that the commentary or exploration of these themes felt heavy-handed, I cannot bear to agree. I believe that there are times to be blatant about what you mean and this novel is a perfect example. However, it is not without nuance and room to explore. I will be rereading this book, possibly later this year.

The rest will be marked as spoilers because there are some things I cannot express without possibly delving into the book's later sections.

Spoiler

R.F. Kuang's use of parallels and mirroring of previous scenes in the book blew me away. Everything surrounding Ramy and Robin broke my heart. Not to mention Victoire's backstory and how she was orphaned and the relatability of that to Robin's backstory. To say that I am heartbroken after reading this book is an understatement. A piece of me almost simply wrote "I am empty inside". However, that would be a disservice to this book.

The final scene. The final scene took my breath away. I was a sobbing and incoherent mess as I read it, blabbing nonsense as I broke down all over again reading "She smiles. She says his name." I couldn't have ended Robin's story better. The use of present tense? Amazing. Bringing it back to the first chapter - to the first scene? Heartbreaking. I was so engrossed by these last chapters and felt numb and empty after reading them. Truly one of my new favorites which I consider difficult to earn the title of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Racism, Blood, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, Classism, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, War, Misogyny, and Addiction

Minor: Slavery, Sexual harassment, and Islamophobia

maddiebusick's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Racism, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Sexism, Classism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Torture, and War

Minor: Addiction, Infidelity, Islamophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Deportation, Medical content, Alcohol, and Bullying

lucy_shanners's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Body horror, Blood, Torture, Murder, Colonisation, Death, Violence, Suicide, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Classism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, War, Gore, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Medical content, Bullying, Alcohol, and Gun violence

Minor: Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Vomit

hamstringy's review

challenging dark emotional 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 think the reason this book made me cry so hard I sobbed through the entire plane descent into Seattle is because it is so easy to see it’s a tragedy from the beginning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Torture, Death of parent, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Colonisation, Violence, War, Blood, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Death, Grief, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Drug abuse, and Fire/Fire injury