This one is real hard to review because I didn't like the narrator for the audiobook. They spoke. Very. Stunted. Without. Any. Flow. ...I don't believe that is how the book was written as that is not my experience of Schwab's writing. I do think you can tell this is early on in Schwab's career as her writing really has improved with her subsequent novels. It is a very typical YA kind of romance between characters (a bit insta lovey). 

Overall it was hard to get through with the narrator, and if I wasn't reading it for a book club I might've switched to a physical book or DNF'd.

A bit less dark academia than I was expecting. The world building is a bit confusing, you kind of just have to go with it. Since it's a series, I hope that a lot of things will be much more fleshed out and deepened in the subsequent books. I really loved the MC's mom ~haha. There's a bit of dry humor throughout. Minor romance subplot. I will be continuing the series, but I am expecting a lot now from the next books.

Having read some of Moreno-Garcia's other work, this wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I would categorize this as a historical romance, with a bit of magical realism. It's definitely not fantasy!

The basic premise is around a very messy melodramatic love triangle or almost like a love web of many characters (but not in a poly way haha). I found Hector to be a wet noodle. Many of the chapters from Hector's POV were hard to get through because of his whining. I found Hector and Nina to be a bit one-dimensional. Valérie at least has clear (evil/selfish) motivation behind her actions and that gives her character a bit of depth.

I hesitate to really say much more because it just wasn't for me because I'm not a bit fan of this genre, or the love triangle trope. If you are a historical romance fan you might enjoy this book more.

I'm not typically a big fairytale person, but this is a fun and modern retelling! I would definitely recommend it even if fairytales aren't your thing. Great narrator for the audiobook, and a quick read. Some badass women characters. LBGTQ+ rep.

Reread January 2023:
I'm so glad I decided to reread this prior to the sequel coming out. I enjoyed it even more than the first time. I remembered the basic plotline, but forgot a lot of the details, which allowed me to just awe at the way Bardugo weaves the story together. So many crumbs throughout this book that are left for not only the main mystery of this book, but more for the future of the series. Also listened to the audiobook at the same time which was very well done. Bardugo also does an interview with the narrator at the end (audiobook)!



Original Review Sept 2022:
If you like dark academia and murder mysteries this book is for you!

This book is wild! One of my reading notes was literally "wtf am I reading"? A murder mystery unlike any I've ever read. Will keep you guessing til the end. So many twists and turns. The MC Alex is badass but flawed and realistic. She is constantly underestimated and totally not given enough credit for how badass she is.

This is a very dark book. A lot of bad things happen, please check CW/TW!! 

The ending is a great metaphor for non-intersectional feminism (Belbalm) and the overall book has great metaphors for power imbalances and elitism. Also side note, to me Alex reads as bi

I'm curious to see where the sequel will go, it sounds like potentially in a different direction based on the ending.

Listened to audiobook. It’s a short one.
I found the main character or at least the way she was narrated to be rather whiny and annoying. 
Overall just an ok read

I really enjoyed the first half (part 1) of this book, and I think this is because I love the way Schwab describes things. Victor is a dark MC but you feel drawn to him. The second half was a bit long and the ending was pretty predictable. I am interested to see where this series continues.

Reread Oct 2023:
This book hits even harder on a reread. RFK is my favorite author. Truly this is one of my all time favorite books. I loved re-reading every second of it, and picked up on so many things that I didn't notice the first time. I loved how much I learned reading this book about language and about history, truly fascinating. This book leans a bit more on the character side vs plot heavy (until probably about the last third of the book). I was sobbing (again) at the ending. 
Update: it's been ~12 days since I finished my reread and I can't even read much else because I can't stop thinking about this book and how good it is.



Initial read Sept 2022:
I need time to collect my thoughts, but this is for sure a new favorite book of mine. I would give it higher than 5 stars if it was possible.

Ok I'm back - so basically this book is a masterpiece and I really don't say that lightly. R.F. Kuang is a GD genius. It's now my goal in life to get pretty much everyone I know to read this book, because it is SO IMPORTANT.

I think the most important thing to know before reading Babel even if you're someone that doesn't like to know anything before reading a book (me): you must go into this book being prepared to learn and think critically. I might also add that this is LOW fantasy. If you've read Kuang's other work, this is very different (in this way), as it leans even more heavily on history and I would really consider it more historical fiction with a bit of magical realism.