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apaulson99 's review for:

Babel by R.F. Kuang
4.0
adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is a masterpiece. R.F. Kuang is quite literally a genius.

That being said, this is not my idea of a 5 star read and that is specifically because of the complexity. The subject matter was intense and so interesting but I was lost when it came to the “magical” elements at points. That might be because I listened to it. I would have loved to listen and have the physical copy to be able to check back on elements I missed.

Chris Lew Kum Hoi is perhaps the best narrator I have ever listened to. I don’t even know what his native tongue is because of how great he is with accents. This book really requires a STRONG narrator and he delivers.

You really have to be ready to pay attention and take your time with this. I can’t believe this book exists - I’m not sure I’ll ever read another like it.