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A review by meganperfect
Babel by R.F. Kuang
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
5 Stars - Audiobook provided by NetGalley
Wow. This book was so incredibly well written, I felt like I was with Robin in Oxford. The dark academia ascetic was impeccable. You could feel the love and passion for academia the characters have as well as the exhaustion and dissolution. The lessons felt like real university classes and I loved the talks about entomology and translation.
Racism and colonialism are a running theme throughout the novel and I felt like it was explained and talked about in a way that made you angry because colonialism still has effects today and you can recognise the racism. It was unsubtle because racism isn’t subtle to those affected.
I loved listening to the audiobook as well as reading along as you got to hear all the different languages spoken out loud in a way I would never have been able to replicate by reading physically. I also loved the different narrators for the footnotes.
The only problem I had with the audiobook was I could hear where they had spliced together multiple different recordings to make the final cut and it was a bit off-putting.
Wow. This book was so incredibly well written, I felt like I was with Robin in Oxford. The dark academia ascetic was impeccable. You could feel the love and passion for academia the characters have as well as the exhaustion and dissolution. The lessons felt like real university classes and I loved the talks about entomology and translation.
Racism and colonialism are a running theme throughout the novel and I felt like it was explained and talked about in a way that made you angry because colonialism still has effects today and you can recognise the racism. It was unsubtle because racism isn’t subtle to those affected.
I loved listening to the audiobook as well as reading along as you got to hear all the different languages spoken out loud in a way I would never have been able to replicate by reading physically. I also loved the different narrators for the footnotes.
The only problem I had with the audiobook was I could hear where they had spliced together multiple different recordings to make the final cut and it was a bit off-putting.