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A review by offthecarousel_
Babel by R.F. Kuang
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
- 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
4.0
I was 60% through, giggling and kicking my feet, and ready to give this book a straight 5 star rating. Then I read the rest of it.
This is a book with some incredible elements. The prose, the characters and their interactions, the incredibly detailed grounding in history... it was all there.
To escalate the problem from their immediate surroundings to taking on world politics with only 25% of the book left.... it was always going to have pacing issues. The last quarter is way too fast, and highlighted other pacing issues I was willing to let go in the first half.
I also understand logically how a character can have such a dramatic personality change after a trauma, however... this book did not convince me with the words on the page. The characterizations in the last arc fell apart for me, as I wasn't convinced he would change like that.
I'm so tempted to drop the rating lower because I had such high hopes for this book and then I was extremely disappointed. But a lot of the elements here were genuinely good, so I've given it a four.
This is a book with some incredible elements. The prose, the characters and their interactions, the incredibly detailed grounding in history... it was all there.
To escalate the problem from their immediate surroundings to taking on world politics with only 25% of the book left.... it was always going to have pacing issues. The last quarter is way too fast, and highlighted other pacing issues I was willing to let go in the first half.
I also understand logically how a character can have such a dramatic personality change after a trauma, however... this book did not convince me with the words on the page. The characterizations in the last arc fell apart for me, as I wasn't convinced he would change like that.
I'm so tempted to drop the rating lower because I had such high hopes for this book and then I was extremely disappointed. But a lot of the elements here were genuinely good, so I've given it a four.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation
Moderate: Addiction, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Car accident