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hanuxe's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Hate crime, Violence, Torture, War, Genocide, Rape, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
joeynystrom's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Gore, Slavery, Sexual assault, Torture, Genocide, Mass/school shootings, Violence, and Body horror
stitchof's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Abortion, Alcohol, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Torture, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, War, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Violence, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, and Suicide
shalladin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Violence, War, Child abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Rape, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Addiction, and Gore
abijmieds's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Rape, Racism, Blood, Body horror, Xenophobia, Violence, Racial slurs, Murder, Incest, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Deportation, Death, Colonisation, Animal death, War, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Police brutality, Misogyny, Mental illness, Genocide, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Mass/school shootings, Drug use, Drug abuse, Classism, Chronic illness, Child death, Torture, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship
lesmotsdits's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: War, Rape, Mass/school shootings, Drug use, Drug abuse, Racism, Hate crime, Blood, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
overbooked207's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
4th book of January 2023 and 4th of the year:
“War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who remains.” - R.F. Kuang.
A military epic fantasy novel inspired by the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking, this book was engaging, hard to put down, and very dark and harrowing, showing how absolutely horrid war is and the trauma, horror, and destruction that comes out of it. It had absolutely amazing writing and world-building, relevant commentary, intricate, brutal, and well-written fight and battle scenes, a beautiful cover, a great audiobook, and fleshed-out/well-developed and complex characters. I love reading about complex characters who make mistakes, aren’t perfect, and/or are forced to make big and hard decisions. I especially love consuming content with angry characters in it. Characters who see or experience injustice and are fueled by their rage. Many times, I find it very cathartic because everybody reacts to trauma differently, with there being no such thing as the ‘perfect’ victim that the media/world expects and wants when horrible things happen. And anger is an essential part of healing and can be very useful when channeled toward good, and, while there are more now, I don’t see as many books/movies/shows that have a main character who expresses this understandable anger, and Rin does, so I really appreciated that. I highly recommend this. Just please be aware of all of the TWs(which I started listing alphabetically to make it easier for people) because there are many heavy things in this, and it was very hard to read at times due to them. TWs for abandonment, ableism, abuse(child, domestic, physical, and sexual), addiction, alcoholism, animal cruelty/death, blood, body horror, body shaming, bullying, child death, classism, colonization, confinement, cursing, death, drugs/drug use, excrement, fatphobia, fire/fire injury, forced institutionalization, gaslighting, genocide, gore, grief, gun violence, hate crime, infertility, injuries/injury detail, kidnapping, medical content/trauma, menstruation, mental illness, mention of forced marriage and prostitution, misogyny, murder, panic attacks, pedophilia, police brutality, pregnancy, PTSD, racism, rape(mentioned a few times throughout and described in detail by a survivor toward the end of chapter 21(80% through the book and at around 14:57:35 to around 15:03:58 in the audiobook)), religious bigotry, self-harm, sexism, sexual assault/violence, slavery, slurs, stalking, suicidal thoughts, suicide, torture, trafficking, violence, vomit, war, and xenophobia.🎧⚔️🏹
Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Classism, Excrement, Kidnapping, Self harm, War, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Slavery, Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Grief, Bullying, Violence, Addiction, Child death, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Rape, Abandonment, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders
eoneon's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death, War, Addiction, Self harm, Hate crime, Gore, Physical abuse, Mass/school shootings, Genocide, Murder, Medical content, and Grief
edilyaaang's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I love the other characters but hate how brutal and unreasonable and heartless they could be. I also love how fierce Rin's love for her people is but hate how she lets anger and revenge and her hunger for power consume her to the point that she refused to see reason. Her retaliation when things don't go her ways is immature and childish. Someone needs anger management sessions.
The battle scenes from this book also disturbed me. As someone from an Asian country who was under Japanese occupation in the past, the horrors narrated in the book regarding their brutality presented me a mental picture if the watered down versions I learned in school. It turned my stomach getting blow by blow descriptions of the atrocities done by the Japanese during that time. Sure, I learned what they did through history class and from what my grandparents who were kids during the invasion told me but never in graphic detail. It made me angry because it really did happen in the past and there are people still alive today who went through all that suffering.
Anyways, ranting aside, I really did enjoy the book even though here were "huh?" and "wtf!" moments. Reviews state that the 2nd and 3rd installment to this book gets better so, I am so looking forward to that.
Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Death, Drug use, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Colonisation, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Police brutality, War, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture
cardanwine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Trafficking, Misogyny, War, Xenophobia, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Child death, Child abuse, Blood, Addiction, Gore, Animal death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Racism, Police brutality, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Hate crime, Genocide, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Bullying, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment