From the Bookshelf of Challenge Corner…

Babel

R.F. Kuang

Start date: February 1, 2025

Finish date: February 28, 2025

Discussion: Book of the Month

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Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

Jan 28, 2023 Trisha rated it liked it

Shelves: goodreadschoice2022

I hate that I didn't love this one. It has so many interesting pieces to it and such a good message. It's powerful. But it's long. I didn't like the day to day details of Robin's life. We get the intimate details of all 4 years of school. The day to day learning, the small nuances of language, the petty fights and the random glasses of wine. It was a slog to get through and it took me days to dig through these stories to find the rebellion inbetween.

Robin was a great character. Nuanced with both ...more

18 likes · Like · see review

Jan 22, 2023 Shruti morethanmylupus rated it it was amazing

This book is a triumph. It's an alternative history with some magical realism. It's a clear commentary on the colonialization of the world, the racism and greed behind it, and the impact it had on the local populations. Yes, it's long, but it's worth it.

The silver bars were the magical realism bit - but they were also an allegory on the way the resources of foreign lands, and their people, were exploited to further the continued aim of controlling even more countries and amassing even more weal ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Feb 23, 2023 Marie (UK) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2023-reading-challenge

This is perhaps a little outside my normal reading loves but I have really enjoyed the book. The author has created a fabulous alternate world history of Oxford in the 19th Century. She has managed to control both the narrative and the world building to give a really pacy read. BUT there is more to this book than this there are parts that really make you think about language in a deeper way.

There is such a lot to this book that I am sure I could come back to it and get something new out of a re ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 13, 2025 Susan rated it did not like it

.05 stars actually!!! I DNF'd this book. Out to the trash it goes. It sad too because I loved The Poppy War and I liked Yellowface by this author.

2nd worst book I have ever read in all my 60 years of life. The Starless Sea was the 1st worst book.

I couldn't careless about any of these boring characters or the drier the dry plot. If I need a book to bore me I'll enroll in another college class. I felt like this book was a text book and not a very good one at that.

It took my 5 days to plow throu ...more

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Jun 28, 2024 Duygu rated it did not like it

Shelves: aty-2024, popsugar-2024, united-kingdom

There’s no denying the author’s brilliance yet it felt extremely condescending how everything was constantly shoved in my face. I wasn’t expected to read and find nuances and draw my own conclusions but constantly was talked at and told what I should be thinking. I had such high expectations and hopes for this book. So many have compared it to The Secret History but I am hard pressed to even place it in the dark academia category. It was more a novel length essay against oppression and capitalis ...more

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