Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

179 reviews

ephemeralzen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

i cried a lot reading this

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Genocide, Addiction, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Violence, Xenophobia, Torture, Physical abuse, Vomit, Emotional abuse, War, Rape, Religious bigotry, Racism, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Blood, Suicide, and Slavery

kennedybrown's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

what the fuck. rebecca you’ve just jumped to the top of my author enemy list. we’re beefing. i will give you this though, it’s very hard to write a

main character death

and make it well done. it was so necessary which is why although im devastated i can’t say i hated the ending bc i didnt. i loved it (shame). i obviously didnt love that

rin died

like duh she’s my best girl she’s mother, and i didnt love rin and nezhas storyline because again, obviously. but from the beginning me, rin, and nezha all knew that

one of them had to die

. so with everything that rin did, her

dying

was the literal only possible ending for her. so even though im sad, when a

main character death

is well done i have to give it its flowers

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Drug abuse, Child death, Body horror, Blood, War, Vomit, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Violence, Death, Colonisation, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Abortion, Torture, Self harm, and Grief

nytephoenyx's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

Holy smokes, what a trilogy ending.

I spent most of this book on an emotional rollercoaster. All... weird feelings, too. Angry and nervous, mostly. There were scenes that made me uncomfortable and when I wanted to throw the book across the room. It was really really good. I was fully engaged at all time. I'm still reeling, though. The Burning God is a unique take on a fantasy war story with intense, disturbing images and a not-exactly-happy ending. Read at your own risk.

That said, I can't recommend this trilogy and The Burning God enough. Absolutely astounding writing, strong characters, heart-wrenching scenes, and thrilling action. It's wonderful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Suicide, War, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Trafficking, Genocide, Racism, Rape, and Addiction

The islanders of Speer and their descendants are dark-skinned.

ashmo69's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Drug use, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death, Colonisation, Gore, War, Blood, Body horror, Genocide, Hate crime, Child death, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, and Drug abuse

Minor: Infertility, Abortion, Chronic illness, Medical content, Vomit, Alcohol, and Cannibalism

killjoycatlady's review against another edition

dark sad 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

This book is the culmination of  a heartwrenching tale of a country ravaged by war told through the eyes of a desperate young girl. It’s morally grey and there’s no true right or wrong. The author creates a rich and complex world and while the countries are analogs of real world cultures, it’s not cliched or stereotypical or even a 1:1 comparison. It is depicts nuanced perspectives of xenophobia, racism, and imperialism. The plot is full of political maneuvering and military strategy, and it’s extremely grounded, gritty, and realistic even when dealing with topics like ancient gods and magic. There are no real winners here. I’d recommend this book to anyone who can deal with its brutal violence.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Drug abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Sexual violence, Death, Racism, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Rape

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

zharaa13's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

<Spoiler>

So this book was amazing. Especially the ending, I was wondering how R.F. Kuang would finish a series like this as I always hate when things just are okay and fine once "the good guys" won the war and then everyone is happy and as someone came from a war stricken country I know that isn't the case. I loved the fact that Rin was a bad leader she couldn't possibly be a queen or empress, she was a soldier and soldiers don't stop fighting and turning Rin into a better show Daenerys Targaryen was the best decision.
I was a bit bored midway through but things started escalating fast and towards the end I was on the edge of my seat.
I really wish we knew what happened to kesgi I really felt sorry for him and Kittay deserved better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cursing, Genocide, Grief, Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Colonisation, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Animal death, Abortion, and Classism

lattefairies's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Rape, Racism, War, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Addiction, Torture, and Sexual assault

amethystofblackrose's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, War, Violence, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Alcoholism, Genocide, Torture, and Gore

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