Plot: 4/5
Babel follows a Chinese child who immigrates to England under the care of an Oxford professor who trains and prepares him for rigorous scholarship at the prestigious Translators Institute within Oxford. The story follows Robin’s studies through his time learning about the magic of silver working and this world’s magic, while delving into the effects of colonization throughout the world.

The academic portion of the plot was the most enjoyable part of the story. I loved the moments of Robin learning more about becoming a translator and working with the languages. The small moments with the various characters added so much personality to the story. For me, the plot dropped off once the action kicked in, which made the ending feel more like a slog to finish the book. For quicker readers, this may not be as much of an issue since momentum should help you through it if you’re not enjoying it. I am not a very quick reader though, so I felt the drag of the last chunk.

Characters: 5/5
The characters were wonderful within Babel! Some of my favorite moments came from the small tidbits between the students, Robin, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty. Each felt like they had great personalities, and their characters were explored well through the lens of Robin. Beyond the main four and a few other front characters, however, the characters seemed looser in their designs, and not entirely fleshed out. Since these are mostly side characters though, I didn’t feel it affected the story all that much.

Worldbuilding: 5/5
I found the worldbuilding to be one of the most enticing parts of this story. I enjoyed seeing how silver working affected the world in an alternate history, and how the translation based magic worked. The lessons spent learning about the translation, and exploring the different translation pairs were the most enjoyable sections by far, even though the characters were attending lecture. It made the idea of schooling enjoyable! As long as I could do fun things with silver after, anyway.

Writing: 4/5
Anyone who can write a book where the lectures are incredibly entertaining deserves praise in their writing for sure, and Kuang does it wonderfully here. I was invested in every etymology lesson (and there were quite a few of them), and just wanted those to repeat over and over. The topic of colonization and how it affected the world are touched on brilliantly while giving a view from someone directly impacted by it. However, as mentioned with the plot, I found the writing for the later plot to begin dragging at the story and slowing it down. In addition, I found a lot of the emotional impact moments never really hit for me. I felt like I should be upset or disheartened by moments, and instead I was unaffected and just moved on afterward.

Enjoyability: 3/5
I really thought this would be a five when I was halfway through it. I was enjoying every page and was fully invested in the story. I loved the lessons they learned, and the moments they had. But as the story continued, the slog at the end really pulled a lot out of me. I had to push to finish this book because I didn’t want to read it anymore, but I did really want to get to my next book. I enjoyed the first probably 75% enough that I don’t think this should be any less than a three though, and part of the issue may have come from my own reading speed and the amount of time I had to read it. With more momentum, one could probably plow through the ending without issue.

OVERALL: 4/5 Silver Bars

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