Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

181 reviews

lolaslalaland's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

2.0

 The final installment in the Poppy War Trilogy. A young girl fighting a war on multiple fronts: civil, foreign, mental, spiritual and physical. 

Pros: 
✅ historical parallels 
✅ impactful themes of war and the crimes and brutality that follow it 
✅ strong atmosphere of pain and suffering across an entire nation 

Cons: 
❌ very little character development. they mainly felt like chess pieces moved around or added to progress the war 
❌ massive pacing issues... no down time! it's just war, war, war, war. no time to build any kind of connections 
❌ magical elements were virutally useless and lead to nothing SPOILER:

So much hype for the Triad just for them to all get defeaeted at the top of a mountain byt eh same army their thought they could defeat with just the three of them... so incredibly disappointed and what a waste of time throughout the entire trilogy.

 
❌ a well written unlikeable character but who is incredibly infuriating in her stupidity! She somehow always ends up in the same situation over and over and over again... I needed something new to happen at least once. 

What I want to end this review with is that I am glad I read the trilogy because the themes it brings up are important and to have them in a "fantasy" setting lets the author explore them more deeply and with less limitations, but I also think this trilogy tried to do too much theme building and not enough story and character development. Perhaps R.F. Kuang is not the author for me. I will still read her standalone Babel though and find out! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Rape, Death, Sexual violence, Blood, Gore, War, Torture, Religious bigotry, Body horror, Sexual assault, Racism, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Child death, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

lanid's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Body horror, Cannibalism, Suicide, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Xenophobia, Drug use, and War

Minor: Gun violence, Mental illness, Alcohol, Excrement, Addiction, Forced institutionalization, and Rape

chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I don't know where to begin. Kuang is an excellent writer and creator of characters. I fell in love with Chen Kitay and his bond with Rin was the most moving aspect of the story. Rin's ending felt fitting, inevitable, and unsettling. It feels so cruel that Nezha is the only surviving character out of the dozen or so we came to love. He was so well written, but I wish more was done with his character ultimately. The third installment felt so very rushed and frustrating at times. I'll be thinking about this for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Gore, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, War, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Pregnancy and Abortion

sunsetcity's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Animal death, Classism, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Racism, Rape, Vomit, War, Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Addiction, Cannibalism, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Torture

shivapriya's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.5

</My favorite moment in the book would be when Rin shows Petra the Pantheon>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Body horror

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Xenophobia

Minor: Addiction

being_stupid's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Genocide, Rape, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Self harm, Blood, Cannibalism, Body horror, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, War, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Deportation, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Dementia and Forced institutionalization

tori_mccausland's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Suicide, War, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Self harm, Abortion, Rape, Sexual violence, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Gore, and Physical abuse

arisaenz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

I tend to be able to finish a book of this length within 2 days... this one took me a little over a month. This book (really this series) demands your attention and emotions and everything you have to give to it. Every second I was not reading this book I was thinking about it and the things it was telling me to look at and observe in the world. So many POC have such a similar story for their country and this makes you not only feel incredibly seen and understood but makes you take a good hard look at how the things that happened to your country left such long lasting scars in you and your family and how you responded. This isn't a book/series for just anyone. It is a very difficult read emotionally and mentally. I took breaks because it would begin to feel so overwhelming, but man was it worth every second. Rin is not easy to love but man so I hold her so close to my heart. I will for sure be going back for a more in depth reread at some point. For not I still feel the weight of this book on my chest and will probably be constantly thinking back to it's themes over the next few months.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gore, Religious bigotry, Violence, Toxic friendship, War, Racism, Physical abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use and Gaslighting

Minor: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

fynnnnnn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, Rape, Xenophobia, Classism, Animal death, Addiction, Slavery, Sexual violence, Racism, Death of parent, War, Violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Death, Child death, Cannibalism, and Blood

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Ableism, and Abortion

natnat_7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Blood, Classism, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, War, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Slavery, Self harm, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage