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chaptertraveller's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book felt so much bigger that the others did, with the plot zooming out in a way that was more distant from the characters and comprehensive of Nikara, and yet I don't think it lost any of the character depth and development. I felt that overall, this book had a few pacing struggles comparatively, especially in the middle section of the book with
After all,The first rule of the Cike is that they cull, and Rin had already been to the Chuluu Korith...
Would I recommend? ABSOLUTELY
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
marinasjd'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? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
brianneh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
lena_kellogg's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Suicide attempt, and Murder
0shelfcontrol'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: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infertility
decie's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
m_rain's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder
stitchof'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
linneak'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
R. F. Kuang's knowledge of colonial history is on full display here, as are her thoughts about colonialism, and those commentaries are a strong and often heartbreaking part of The Burning God.
I will say, however, that I wish that the world had felt larger. It's small in book one because Rin's knowledge of the world is small. It expands in book two. It fails to expand again here. I think there could have been more of a sense of the wider world (or just a sense that more than three countries had ever existed in it, honestly) without cheapening the ending. In fact, I think that the inevitable and heartbreaking ending would have felt even MORE inevitable and even MORE heartbreaking had there been other countries out there somewhere that simply would not or could not get involved in the Nikaran/Hesperian conflict.
Everything is so desperate here, and it somehow keeps getting more so. The problem is that after Golyn Niis and the end of The Poppy War, and after the utter, unending misery of so much of The Dragon Republic, neither the tone nor the content have the capacity to get much darker, and so they kind of don't.
Rin and Kitay's relationship continues to be my favorite thing, and the thing that fascinates me most. Kitay is a character who gives me so much hope, and Rin is a character who gives me so little, and I love how Kuang plays with that dynamic, especially given the nature of their relationship by this point.
Rin and Nezha are of course compelling as well, and in many ways their conflict and their complex feelings about each other form the centerpoint of the entire series. We certainly get the most of Nezha's perspective here, but I still find their dynamic in The Dragon Republic the most compelling out of the three installments.
I think that the character work and the writing are very strong here, and I'm rating it extremely highly because it did what it set out to do and affected me deeply, but there were just a few things that did not totally work for me, and the experience of reading it was more exhausting than anything else.
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War