Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions* (view spoiler)[ *It's a love triangle so there's a lot of exceptions • No cheating (but there's a moment where the Heroine is sure she's in love with both men) • No OW drama • Does have OM drama - Since it's a love triangle, you don't really know who's the OM until the end • Does have the Heroine pushing the men away • Does have a brief separation between the Heroine and her OTP (both celibate) (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Racism • Classism • Sexism • Toxic parental relationship • British imperialism • Heroine's husband just died, but she's not grieving (hide spoiler)]
Representation: Black supporting character, Thai Swedish supporting character, Nonbinary side character
Overall: 3.5-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with ExceRepresentation: Black supporting character, Thai Swedish supporting character, Nonbinary side character
Overall: 3.5-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OW drama • Does have OM drama – Heroine's ex-boyfriend causes drama but shuts him down quickly • Does have the Hero pushing the Heroine away • Does have a 16-month separation (both celibate) (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Alcoholism • Toxic parental relationship between Heroine and her mother • Allusion to Hero's abusive father • Grief • Death of Hero's best friend in car accident recounted (hide spoiler)]
Representation: Bisexual love interest who uses a cane, Brown asexual side character, mlm side character
Overall: 4.75-stars
Safety Rating: Safe (view sRepresentation: Bisexual love interest who uses a cane, Brown asexual side character, mlm side character
Overall: 4.75-stars
Safety Rating: Safe (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OW drama • Does have brief OM drama – Ex hookup of Nathaniel's hits on him at the ball, but Nathaniel rejects him, and Elizabeth isn't threatened • No pushing away • No separation (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • PTSD (Nathaniel has nightmares from his family's death) • Grief (a theme of the book is Sila's grief of being immortal and watching his chosen family die and leave him alone) (hide spoiler)]
Representation: South African Black supporting character, Indian supporting character
Overall: 5-stars
Mature Themes: (view spoiler)[ • Sex is alluded toRepresentation: South African Black supporting character, Indian supporting character
Overall: 5-stars
Mature Themes: (view spoiler)[ • Sex is alluded to and discussed (non-descriptive) • Reflection on the main character's past alcoholism (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Depression • Anxiety • Death • Gun violence • Isolation • Abandonment (hide spoiler)]
Safety Rating: Safe (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • Does have OW drama - Heroine (view spoiler)[rushes to the Hero's bedside in the hospital only to find his ex-fiancé there. And she convinces herself that he might want another chance with the OW. The Heroine doesn't reach out to the Hero until three months later, once she's finished the book. (hide spoiler)] • No OM drama • No pushing away • Does have a three month separation (both celibate) (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Death of the protagonist's father • Grief (see above and also the Hero grieving the fact that he's a ghost) • Medical trauma • Depression (recounted) • Toxic relationship, including emotional abuse (recounted between the protagonist and her ex-boyfriend) • Death of the Hero's parents recounted • Bullying recounted • Childhood trauma recounted when the protagonist remembers catching the killer of a boy in her class (hide spoiler)]
Representation: Latina main character, Latino supporting character, Black supporting character, Chinese-British lesbian supporting character
Overall: 5Representation: Latina main character, Latino supporting character, Black supporting character, Chinese-British lesbian supporting character
Overall: 5-stars
Mature Themes: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Sex (nondescriptive) • Reference to struggles with alcoholism (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Sexism • Racism • Reference to Carrie's father's battle with c@ncer • Medical trauma on-page • Infidelity (on-page, occurs in the past between Carrie and an OM) • Death (view spoiler)[of Carrie's father from heart failure, on-page (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]
Ending: (view spoiler)[HFN. Carrie ends up barely losing to Nicki in the US Open. She goes on to be Nicki's coach after retiring again. Carrie and Bowe are still together and going strong in the epilogue. (hide spoiler)]...more
Mature Themes: (view spoiler)[ • Sex discussed • Drug use and addiction • Alcohol use and addiction (hide spoiler)]
Possible Trigger: YeOverall: 4.5-stars
Mature Themes: (view spoiler)[ • Sex discussed • Drug use and addiction • Alcohol use and addiction (hide spoiler)]
Possible Trigger: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Detailed description of author's experience with anorexia and bulimia • Parental abuse, including emotional and psychological • Alcoholism • Recouting of author's ex-boyfriend's addiction to weed and being diagnosed with schizophrenia • Detailed recounting of author's mother's struggle with c@ncer • Toxic parental relationship • Body shaming • Adult-minor relationship between the author and one of her co-stars • Sexual assault • Grief • PTSD • Gaslighting (hide spoiler)]
Representation: Taiwanese-American main character, Korean-American supporting character, lesbian Vietnamese-American supporting character, Chinese sidRepresentation: Taiwanese-American main character, Korean-American supporting character, lesbian Vietnamese-American supporting character, Chinese side character, lesbian Black side character, Taiwanese-American side character
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Racism • Gaslighting • Emotional abuse • Homophobia • Xenophobia • Misogyny • Cultural appropriation • Racial slurs • Discussion of a side character's attempted suicide • Cultural appropriation • Yellowface • Fetishization of East Asian women becomes a main plot point • Brief allusion to an adult/minor relationship between a supporting character and his wife (he met his wife in China when he was 27, and earlier, it was mentioned that there's a 15-year age gap between them) (hide spoiler)]
Ending: (view spoiler)[The ending is very OTT because the book is satire, but I think it reflects what happens in real life: those who perpetuate oppression through a "free speech" narrative are rewarded, whereas those who call out oppression - white supremacy - are punished by institutions (and the people who want to uphold it). Disorientation ends with Ingrid having dropped out of her Ph.D. and working a minimum wage job at a hot dog fast food joint. But the author emphasizes that while society might consider this "failure," Ingrid is all the better for it. This is a brief pause as she considers what she wants to do now that she's left academia. She finally has time to rest and heal from the trauma of academia, and she's rebuilding her relationship with her parent and learning their native language. Essentially, Ingrid is on the road to reclaiming herself and her identity outside of the white space of academia. (hide spoiler)]...more
Representation: Gay main character, Bisexual main character, Lesbian supporting characters, Black trans supporting character, Chinese-British supportiRepresentation: Gay main character, Bisexual main character, Lesbian supporting characters, Black trans supporting character, Chinese-British supporting character
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Medical trauma (including yellow fever, parasites, lacerations from being attacked by animals and dragons) • Racism • Sexism • Imperialism • Grief (Protagonist's husband was murdered in book 1) • Classism (hide spoiler)]
Ending: (view spoiler)[ The Protagonist learned what she needed to enrich her understanding of dragons, and kept her promise to her new friends. She's also committed to strengthening her relationship with her son. (hide spoiler)]...more
Mature Themes: (view spoiler)[ • Sex • Drug use discussed • Underage drinking discussed • Swearing (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: YOverall: 4.75-stars
Mature Themes: (view spoiler)[ • Sex • Drug use discussed • Underage drinking discussed • Swearing (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • R@pe • Sexual assault and harassment • Sexism and misogyny • Author's mother gets sick and has to go through chemo • Recounting of stalking • Depression • Anxiety • Pregnancy • Disordered eating • Complicated parental relationships (hide spoiler)]
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OW drama • Does have (so Representation: Lesbian side characters
Overall: 4.5-stars
Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions (view spoiler)[ • No cheating • No OW drama • Does have (so much) OM drama – Before the book starts, the Heroine breaks up with her abusive and cheating live-in boyfriend, and he wants her back. Because they co-own their house, her ex forcibly (but legally) moves back into their house about 25% into the novel, and the Heroine never tells the Hero this. – the Heroine's father is also pressuring her to get back with her ex • Does have the Heroine pushing the Hero away • Does have a few weeks separation (both celibate) (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Emotional abuse and gaslighting (on-page, from the Heroine's ex and her father) • Childbirth (on-page) • Toxic parental relationships • Heroine's ex-boyfriend cheated on her • Gender-based violence and domestic abuse (on-page, by and against side characters) (hide spoiler)]
Representation: Deaf main character with a cochlear implant, Deaf main character, lesbian CODA main character, lesbian supporting character, Black DeaRepresentation: Deaf main character with a cochlear implant, Deaf main character, lesbian CODA main character, lesbian supporting character, Black Deaf supporting character, Black Deaf side character, bisexual Deaf side character, Deaf side characters
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Abelism • Racism • Toxic relationships • Bullying (on-page, and recounted) • Medicalization of d/Deafness • Medical trauma (Charlie's cochlear implant electrocutes her which lands her in the ICU) • Intent to blow-up a building (stopped) • February's mom has dementia • Death of a parent dying (on-page, one from old age/dementia, the other recounted, in a car accident) • Grief • Gun violence (recounted) • Torture (fundamentalist church attempts to "heal" side character's hearing by pouring hot oil into his ear) (hide spoiler)]
Ending: (view spoiler)[ Abrupt and unsatisfactory, which is why the book isn't 5 stars. There isn't any closure for any of the characters, and the premise of opening the book with Charlie, Austin and Eliot running away goes nowhere. (hide spoiler)]
Representation: Nigerian-British Bisexual protagonist, Black Caribbean Bisexual love interest, Lesbian Ghanaian-American supporting character, Black CRepresentation: Nigerian-British Bisexual protagonist, Black Caribbean Bisexual love interest, Lesbian Ghanaian-American supporting character, Black Caribbean supporting characters, Lesbian Caribbean supporting character, Trinidadian supporting character
Overall: 3.5-stars
We were told rather than shown too much of the relationship between Feyi and Alim. While I felt their connection was believable, I didn't feel like I followed their feelings from attraction to more. Their decision to act on their feelings is not where I felt let down, but in the times afterward when Feyi would tell Joy that she and Alim spend days talking/bonding, yet the reader never sees any of this! This book is supposed to be a romance novel, and that bonding between love interests is a key component of a romance. However, I liked how it was written, and because of other reviews, I went into this book expecting it to be more of a literary fiction/coming-of-age post-death of her husband for the protagonist. The drama was also compelling; I read this book in just a few hours.
The dynamic between Alim and his children after the fallout asks the reader to consider at what point parents can be their own person, separate from their children's expectations. Of course, it's messy that Nasir has feelings for Feyi. But Nasir was never promised (and neither was he owed) Feyi would return his feelings or sexual intimacy. I admit, I thought Feyi's insistence that they were *just friends* felt a bit revisionist since even her best friend was calling Nasir her boyfriend. Feyi acknowledged a potential for romance in NYC, so I wish she had been forthcoming with Nasir when she knew she wanted to keep it platonic between them.
Alim's children's negative reactions to him being bisexual were never addressed. However, the fact that his children vetoed his boyfriend so many years ago is a big reason why Alim is choosing himself (by being with Feyi) now. Therefore, I wish this other schism in Alim's relationships with his children had been explored more.
Safety Rating: Not Safe* (view spoiler)[ *Does have descriptive sex scenes between Feyi and an OM before she meets Nasir and Alim. Plus, Feyi ends up with Alim, the father of her almost-boyfriend, Nasir. • No cheating • No OW drama – However, Feyi is concerned that Alim has slept/is sleeping with his best friend Rebecca, but he assures her that's not the case. • Does have OM drama – Alim's son, Nasir, introduces Feyi and Alim. At this point, Nasir and Feyi have been friends for weeks and also kinda dating ... essentially hanging out to see if they want something serious together. After meeting Alim, Feyi backs off Nasir but doesn't clearly break things off with Nasir, which causes lots of drama when he finds out about Feyi and Alim. • Does have Feyi pushing Alim away • No separation (although their relationship will be long-distance, it's not that big a deal since Alim has the money to casually visit Feyi in NYC) (hide spoiler)]
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Grief • Death of Feyi's husband recounted, on-page (including flashbacks in nightmares) • Threat of physical violence • Death of Alim's wife by drowning discussed • Death of supporting character's child from c@ncer • Unprotected sex • Anxiety • Negative self-talk • the protagonist gets with her almost-boyfriend's dad • Homophobia implied (hide spoiler)]
Representation: Chinese-British main character, Indian supporting character, Haitian supporting character, Chinese-British supporting character, BlackRepresentation: Chinese-British main character, Indian supporting character, Haitian supporting character, Chinese-British supporting character, Black side character
Overall: 4.5-stars
This is a very hard book to review. On one hand, I'm in awe of the magic system created in this book and how accessible the lectures/academia on translation was in this book. On the other hand, all the characters lacked depth (they read like allegories), and I'm really frustrated with R.F. Kuang's tendency (view spoiler)[to kill her main character through suicide (hide spoiler)]. However, the epilogue convinced me to rate the book 4.5 rather than 4-stars.
Possible Triggers: Yes (view spoiler)[ • Child abuse • Racism • Racist slurs • Sexism • Colonialism • Gun violence • White supremacy • White privilege, including white guilt, white tears, and a textbook example of the Karen stereotype through Letty's character • Xenophobia • Murder • Gore • Slavery • Description of industrial workplace accidents (ex. working children losing limbs) • Description of enslavement • Poverty • Homelessness (hide spoiler)]
Ending: (view spoiler)[Pretty much everyone dies. Letty betrays the cohort and Hermes and murders Ramy. Victoire's the only one who survives. Robin brings down Babel – killing himself in the process – in an effort to avenge Ramy but also to stop the Empire's weaponization of translation. The epilogue, told from Victoire's POV, offers some hope for the future but also acknowledges how hard stopping colonialism and inequality will be. (hide spoiler)]...more
Sarah Anne
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