Scan barcode
A review by minimaiae
Babel by R.F. Kuang
5.0
I’m literally about to end my life this is one of the best books i’ve ever read.
I say that a lot but i genuinely mean it. R.F Kuang you’ve done it again
POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!!!
The story starts off with Robin, a boy from Canton being taken away from his hometown by a man named Richard Lovell. Lovell takes him to England and raises him on languages such as Cantonese, Ancient Greek and Latin. This is all done in the hopes that Robin will eventually get into Oxford University to study translation. Robin comes to see Lovell as a father (little does he know LMFAO) but Lovell isn’t a very emotive man and doesn’t give Robin the care or attention a young boy obviously needs. He mostly leaves this up to his maid Mrs Piper who’s great to Robin. Lovell was never cruel to Robin until one night Robin accidentally missed an hour of one of his classes and Lovell began to beat him.
“Robin would have been more frightened if he’d ever suspected Professor Lovell of violence, but this beating was so unexpected, so wholly out of character, that it felt surreal more than anything else”
I genuinely was so pissed at this I wanted to slap the shit out of Lovell but nevertheless it lead to Robin putting his head down and studying non stop. This lead to him eventually getting into Oxford.
The beginning of the end I guess.
As he enters Babel, he meets a boy named Ramy and they swiftly become friends and bond over their shared experiences. When their first class starts we meet Letty and Victoire and we get to see their relationship develop and grow. The four of them literally made me cry they’re so fucking cute
“He was not ready to commit fully to Hermes. But by God, he would have killed for any of his cohort.”
Robin would’ve given up his life for his friends.
He was starved for affection his whole life and by the time he got to Babel he met people who shared the same experiences as him and who he would be able to be friends with for the rest of his life.
ROBIN
Robin Swift is the main character of Babel and I literally love him to death he can do no wrong in my eyes. He was so loyal to every single one of his friends that he would risk his own life multiple times to keep them safe.
RAMY
He’s 1000% my favourite character he was just so loveable and funny. I will admit he did have a few faults but so did everyone else in the story so it’s not that serious. I literally cried my eyes out for him not even being funny.
VICTOIRE
I ABSOLUTELY ADORE HER SHES AN ICON!!!!!!!!!
Once again she can do no wrong.
“Every weakness we display is a testament to the worst theories about us, which is that we’re fragile, we’re hysterical, and we’re too naturally weak-minded to handle the kind of work we’re set to do”
She faced not only racism at Babel but also sexism and yet she still continued on and basically carried the group on her back.
LETTY
I don’t have much to say about Letty other than the fact i fucking hate her.
I tried to have sympathy towards her and for the first half of the book I didn’t mind her at all.
But when she did what she did I just will never get over it.
Third year of Babel is when everything starts going wrong it’s tragic. The workload gets too much for everyone and they begin having petty arguments.
They always resolve them though and their friendship comes back stronger than ever.
“And then, like a house of cards, Oxford began to crumble.”
The end of this book was an emotional rollercoaster I swear.
Robin and Victoire have absolutely nothing left to lose so they give everything to Hermes. This goes well for a while but Robin loses himself in his anger and frustration and he loses all rationality. He focuses more on revenge than actually getting their point across.
This eventually leads to the downfall of the Hermes organisation.
Overall, this book was absolutely fucking incredible and I recommend it to everyone. It’s so eye opening and incredibly written.
I say that a lot but i genuinely mean it. R.F Kuang you’ve done it again
POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!!!
The story starts off with Robin, a boy from Canton being taken away from his hometown by a man named Richard Lovell. Lovell takes him to England and raises him on languages such as Cantonese, Ancient Greek and Latin. This is all done in the hopes that Robin will eventually get into Oxford University to study translation. Robin comes to see Lovell as a father (little does he know LMFAO) but Lovell isn’t a very emotive man and doesn’t give Robin the care or attention a young boy obviously needs. He mostly leaves this up to his maid Mrs Piper who’s great to Robin. Lovell was never cruel to Robin until one night Robin accidentally missed an hour of one of his classes and Lovell began to beat him.
“Robin would have been more frightened if he’d ever suspected Professor Lovell of violence, but this beating was so unexpected, so wholly out of character, that it felt surreal more than anything else”
I genuinely was so pissed at this I wanted to slap the shit out of Lovell but nevertheless it lead to Robin putting his head down and studying non stop. This lead to him eventually getting into Oxford.
The beginning of the end I guess.
As he enters Babel, he meets a boy named Ramy and they swiftly become friends and bond over their shared experiences. When their first class starts we meet Letty and Victoire and we get to see their relationship develop and grow. The four of them literally made me cry they’re so fucking cute
“He was not ready to commit fully to Hermes. But by God, he would have killed for any of his cohort.”
Robin would’ve given up his life for his friends.
He was starved for affection his whole life and by the time he got to Babel he met people who shared the same experiences as him and who he would be able to be friends with for the rest of his life.
ROBIN
Robin Swift is the main character of Babel and I literally love him to death he can do no wrong in my eyes. He was so loyal to every single one of his friends that he would risk his own life multiple times to keep them safe.
RAMY
He’s 1000% my favourite character he was just so loveable and funny. I will admit he did have a few faults but so did everyone else in the story so it’s not that serious. I literally cried my eyes out for him not even being funny.
VICTOIRE
I ABSOLUTELY ADORE HER SHES AN ICON!!!!!!!!!
Once again she can do no wrong.
“Every weakness we display is a testament to the worst theories about us, which is that we’re fragile, we’re hysterical, and we’re too naturally weak-minded to handle the kind of work we’re set to do”
She faced not only racism at Babel but also sexism and yet she still continued on and basically carried the group on her back.
LETTY
I don’t have much to say about Letty other than the fact i fucking hate her.
I tried to have sympathy towards her and for the first half of the book I didn’t mind her at all.
But when she did what she did I just will never get over it.
Third year of Babel is when everything starts going wrong it’s tragic. The workload gets too much for everyone and they begin having petty arguments.
They always resolve them though and their friendship comes back stronger than ever.
“And then, like a house of cards, Oxford began to crumble.”
The end of this book was an emotional rollercoaster I swear.
Robin and Victoire have absolutely nothing left to lose so they give everything to Hermes. This goes well for a while but Robin loses himself in his anger and frustration and he loses all rationality. He focuses more on revenge than actually getting their point across.
This eventually leads to the downfall of the Hermes organisation.
Overall, this book was absolutely fucking incredible and I recommend it to everyone. It’s so eye opening and incredibly written.