Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Babel by R.F. Kuang

612 reviews

apridot's review

challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

laurawho's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Police brutality, Suicide, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Murder, Racial slurs, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Death, Sexism, War, Child abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Slavery and Drug use

invertedsquares's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racism, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

oceanelle's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious 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

5.0

Absolutely fucking brilliant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Suicide, Classism, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Physical abuse

naeara's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Colonisation, Suicide, War, and Racism

bernika999's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book was amazing.
I would recommend 100 per cent. I had finished the Poppy War series and would recommend reading that first. Not because you have to. You don't. But I think this book hits harder when you do. 
The connections between them kills man.
I'd admit that it's a slow start, I mean it was for me. The footnotes are lengthy and sometimes the terminology goes over your head. However, that doesn't matter, at all, it didn't prevent the book from getting five stars from me. Very painful but definitely worth it. Wish I could read it again for the first time.
 And all her other books, are all 5 stars for me, must read them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Grief, and Suicide

Moderate: War, Racism, Death of parent, Child abuse, Murder, and Blood

discocaptain's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

what else do i fucking say, r. f. kuang has brought me to my knees. i have things to pick at but they're not important right now. all that comes to mind is how painfully real it felt to me. i can already see this being a "dark academia" staple in the same way that a secret history or the dead poets society is, which is not necessarily a bad thing and i want to say i ALSO like them but can we be real for a second and forget that? its an evolution past these stories. it's an attempt to infiltrate and blast through the silver laden halls of the ivy league. it's the futility of trying to love a place that does not love you back. it's trying to hold two things in your mind at once, two contradictory things. robin is an excellent protagonist and the undergrads are a wonderful ensemble. it's a bit obvious and a bit overt and a bit heavy handed but, well, as those that have read it to completion know: toppling empire necessitates violence. learn. internalize. listen. understand. this book is just begging you. listen, and then act.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Misogyny, Suicide, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Cultural appropriation, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, War, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Gun violence, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

katiesully1000's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

A true masterpiece. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: War, Child abuse, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts

butlerebecca's review

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

Wish this was 100 pages shorter but feels ridiculous to give this less than 5 stars

Truly baffled by how one person can make a book that’s both academically specific and written with such beautiful prose

It took adjusting to adapt to the magical realism/fantasy elements but I really like how it simplified and represented the complicated facts of colonial empire

Learned a lot too - felt like what people do with hiding medication in peanut butter for dogs - like oh here’s a novel whoops bonus you also just read a textbook! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Classism, Death, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, War, Colonisation, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Racism, Drug use, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide

ira_22_3's review

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wanted to love this book. It just did not tickle my pickle. In saying that, here are some things I throroughly enjoyed. As someone who loves a bit of etymology, the notes on words and the detail of match-pairs was super interesting. The author also manages to talk about race, colonialism and activism with such sense that it really gets you thinking, especially as a white person. The ending was super powerful.
HOWEVER. The plot didn't feel very intentional to me, it seemed to drag on and either spend way too much time on things or jump from one thing to the other. I didn't particularly connect with any of the characters, nor did I understand their actions at times. I'm sad to say that it just wasn't for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Suicide