A review by tbd24
Babel by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

this book was my niche exactly so I feel a little biased but I liked it a lot. The writing was very good and evocative, I found myself literally gasping aloud or beginning to sweat during tense parts of the book. Very good character writing and development, though I was a little disappointed

Rami and Robin were only ever subtext, I would have been a bit more satisfied if they had a proper conversation about it, even once, especially since they were gonna die in the end anyway so what did the author have to lose. I feel like the reason it was never explicit is because the author didn’t know how to write a conversation like that and still keep the historical realism, though others have done this well. idk, it just disappointed me

. Overall, the only reason this was not a five star read for me was the pacing was a little bit too sporadic for my taste. There were drawn out moments that I wish had been shorter and quick fly by scenes that I wish we could have relished in. But other than that, loved it, and will defs read again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Sexism, Slavery, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, and War