As this title is published by HarperCollins Children's Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, I will be withholding my review of the title in support of the HarperCollins Union strike. I look forward to reviewing this title once HarperCollins has met the union at the bargaining table and agreed to a fair contract.

I've been pondering this review for the past week. And I still am at a loss.
When is it time to take up arms? When does the necessity for violence become justified?
This book is IMMENSE.
Robin, orphaned, is rescued by a British man. Taken to England to be educated - groomed into a translator. Finally he attends university - the much sought after scholarship to Babel. One among four students for that year - they form strong friendships, outcasts themselves for various reasons. Race. Gender.
A very intricate look at opposing forces, neutrality, the preference for lack of information, advantage vs disadvantage.

A masterpiece in every way--truly never thought a book could be written that captured my experiences of going to a PWI.

PHEWWWWWW. what a book. what an author. what a BRAIN.
i loved this from start to end and cried when there were no more pages to flip through. i want to eat rfk's brain. yes i would turn into a zombie for that woman because what she did in babel? INSANE.

- thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
In the 1830s orphan Robin Swift is brought from Canton to London and taken under the wing of enigmatic Professor Lovell where he is trained in the study of languages all with the goal in mind of sending him to Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. Babel is where the magic happens, literally in fact, where silver working happens, embedding languages into silver bars which stands in for technology but this is not easy work and the words can’t just be any old word. Attending Babel is a dream come true for Robin but being in the heart of England, and as a Chinese boy raised in England Robin sees the dark side to the work Babel does and struggles within himself. While studying at Babel Robin meets a shadow society that opens his eyes even further to what Babel does and it’s cost, their goal is to stop Britain’s expansion and colonization of the world. Robin has to pick a side, does he dedicate himself to the studies he loves or the cause that calls to him? Can change happen from within the institution or will it take violence to make it happen?
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Babel by R.F. Kuang was a lot of reader’s most anticipated book of 2022 and while I enjoyed it immensely I think maybe my expectations for it were too high. Regardless I really enjoyed the world, it was gritty, and the characters, Robin especially.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.

I really wanted to love Babel. It starts out very interesting. Robin and his friends are well written, and I love that it is set at Oxford. However, I stopped reading after about 100 pages in. It felt like there were a lot of info dumps, and I just got bored.

Stayed up late because I couldn’t stop reading Babel. Then stayed up even later because I couldn’t stop thinking about Babel. Holy. Shit. !!!!!!!!!! This is the most powerful book I've ever read. Stunning from start to finish and absolutely packed with themes. I'll never stop thinking about or recommending this book.

What can I say about this book that hasn't been said already?
Delightful. Straight up perfection. Thanks for the ARC ! I am honored to have received it.

I realize that I am a bit of an outlier when it comes to RF Kuang. I read The Poppy War series and was not blown away. I didn't hate it at all, I just didn't fall in love with it like so many others. I purchased the series for my library and it has been a big hit. SO, the problem has to be me, which is totally fine. As such, I tried to begin reading Babel with a clear mind. I think, as with many authors, you can see growth in the writing of this book. The setting is great - the British Empire, who wouldn't like that? The characterization is done very nicely, at least for the major characters. But I finished this book much as I had her previous novels - with a sense of happiness that I was finally done. As with the Poppy Wars books, I purchased this for my library and it has circulated continuously. So, I led to the inescapable conclusion that something about Ms. Kuang's writing style just doesn't mesh with my reading style, which is perfectly ok. I will continue to recommend her titles to my patrons and I am sure they will be glad I did!

This was one of my highly-anticipated novels, because I do enjoy dark academia, and the magic involving silver and translation really intrigued me.

This was so dense and really took some time for me to get into the reading rhythm. But once I did, I loved it. I really enjoyed the academia, and showing how it isolated Robin and the others. All of the footnotes and etymology and discussion about translation were so interesting for me and I had fun just getting lost in the minutiae. I also appreciated the examination of colonialism and thought it was really well-done in terms of weaving it into Robin’s story without always explicitly discussing it, but still illustrating its impact (while at other times it is explicitly talked about).

The last couple of parts of the book went in a different direction and changed the tone and raised the stakes, and I had some difficulty adjusting at first. As for the ending, I can’t say I liked it but I understood it.

This was definitely a book that exceeded my expectations! If you like dark academia, this is a must-read!

Loved, but will not be providing a full review at this time because Harper Collins refused to join the bargaining table with the union.

Probably the best book of the year, this proves that Kuang can do no wrong. I've liked every story I've read by her and this was no exception.

This book was all too real and hurt so much to read but oh man is it good. I am so impressed as always with RF Kuang. I will literally read anything she writes and I can't wait to follow her for the rest of her career.

To be frank, I was not a big fan of Babel. I enjoy books that are very character driven, and the point of the characters in Babel was just for them to be there, perpetrators of the story, but never to explain their thoughts, their feelings, why they said or did anything at all. It's as if the events of the story happened around them, not to them. And so to the writing, though it was well written, did not remind of a story, but rather an essay that you'd written for college. I did enjoy the magic system of Babel, with the idea that the translation of a word from one language to the next, in doing so, you lose a certain intangible element that silver can manifest, if transcribed with the translated pair. Overall however, the book, for all the massive hype I received, did disappoint me somewhat. I give the book 3 out of 5 stars, for it was not a bad book, just not a book for me.

I made the difficult decision of DNFing this about halfway through.

In my opinion this book is well and thoroughly written ACADEMICALLY but not in any other way. It reads like a thesis for a PHD candidate and I simply couldn’t make it through another page of etymological breakdown and theory.

RF Kuang is brilliant, no doubt. But this book comes off as pretentious, the characters are sadly very flat and really just mouthpieces to very obvious racial stereotypes.

I genuinely hoped this would be a five star read for me, but it’s boring and obtuse. There, I said it.

I mean this deserves absolutely all the hype it gets. it was moving and beautiful and said so much. I think that despite it's length, it's not too dense to consume and should be on everyone's list. The great irony that Harper Collins isn't responding to its striking union after publishing this story is pretty wild. Hopefully they can take a page out of their own book.

“English did not just borrow words from other languages; it was stuffed to the brim with foreign influences, a Frankenstein vernacular. And Robin found it incredible, how this country, whose citizens prided themselves so much on being better than the rest of the world, could not make it through an afternoon tea without borrowed goods.” ― R.F. Kuang

Hmmm I honestly have no idea how to start this review. There is so much to unpack here.
Babel enamored me. It's a book everyone should read but not all will like or even enjoy. Babel is academic. It is dense and it will ask you to sit in some uncomfortable truths.

Babel spoke to me on two different fronts. As someone who is bilingual and a person of color so many of the passages resonated with me particularly those about belonging ( or not), about being made to feel like a stranger in our own home. It also spoke to me on the ways in which I am complicit in our system to the violence and oppression of other people of color, and immigrants.

If you're wondering if you should read Babel the answer is 100% yes. If you're an avid reader and wondering if you'll enjoy this then I would need to ask, "what's your primary reason for reading?" If you read for escapism Babel will feel like an academic text at times. So much research has gone into the making of this masterpiece. If you read for curiosity or learning or themes, I think you'll slowly fall in love with this book. If you have a deep appreciation for languages you may also love this book.

I would highly recommend to play " The Joys of Sorrows and Life" by Johannes Bornlof as you read the last few chapters. You won't regret it.

Even though I LOVED Babel. There are some things I wish Kuang would've done differently to elevate the story. One would be to expand the view points throughout the book. We have a very limited scope from Robin's POV.

Babel is an alternate history critique of dark academia and uses fantasy elements by using language and silver to give certain properties to items.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for an ARC of this book.

This intellectual novel is unlike anything that I have read so far. It is truly beautifully written and the take on colonialism is spot on. Throw in dark academia and magical elements, it was truly set to be a huge hit with readers. I got intimidated by the chunky book, but I'll say just read it and savour it yourself!

Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley, and the author for this ARC in exchange for a honest review!

INCREDIBLE book! There are so many layers to this book and its too much to explain! All I will say is READ THIS BOOK! You won't regret it!

This book is absolutely stunning. Beautifully written and I came to care so deeply about the characters. I can't wait to read the next book from Kuang. Thank you for the early read!