Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

94 reviews

kmae314's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, War, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Genocide, and Suicidal thoughts

a_wandering_thinker's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Die Trilogie ist genial, bottom line. Der zweite Teil ist mein Favorit, der dritte ging zu schnell voran und hat nicht allen Plotlines und Charaktere die Tiefe und Aufmerksamkeit gegeben, die sie verdient hätten. Aber ich habe diesen Teil dennoch verschlungen, die Story hat mich gepackt wie lange keine Buchreihe mehr. 

Das Worldbuilding und die Parallelen zur echten Welt waren gleichzeitig das beste an den Büchern als auch eine Schwachstelle. Zum einen habe ich so viel über Krieg und Staatenbildung gelernt wie bei keinem Buch zuvor. Darüber, wozu Menschen fähig sind, was Revolutionen kosten, über Religion, Kolonialismus und Abgründe der Menschlichkeit. Auf der anderen Seite musste ich mich bei jedem Element der Story fragen, welches reale Ereignis es wohl inspiriert hat, dass sich die Handlung manchmal wie eine sehr ausgeschmückte Allegorie für Real-Life-Events anfühlte, anstatt zu etwas Eigenem zu werden (was immer noch viel über unsere echte Geschichte und Kulturen aussagen kann, aber ohne davon zu dominiert zu werden). 
Ein anderer Kritikpunkt, vor allem von diesem Band, ist, wie Dialog-lastig es war. Ich hätte mir ein wenig mehr ruhige Momente gewünscht, die die Handlung nicht mit Macht vorangetrieben hätten, etwas mehr bildliche Beschreibung von Szenen. Trotzdem war die Story extrem immersive und packend. 

Insgesamt ist die Trilogie eine 4.5 ⭐️ für mich. Absolut beeindruckend, realistisch, packend, und ich liebe es, wie mit vielen Tropes gebrochen wird. Ich freue mich schon, als nächstes Babel zu lesen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Colonisation, Gore, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Vomit, and War

Moderate: Eating disorder, Trafficking, Sexism, Death of parent, and Excrement

johnathanwet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Tragic and beautiful end to a truly gruesome series. I don’t think this could have played out any other way, and the tale Kuang has woven over this poor girl is truly on of a kind

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Genocide, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Grief, Drug use, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, War, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Murder

nataaaliya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Racial slurs, Suicide, Child abuse, Classism, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Addiction, Abandonment, Cannibalism, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, War, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism and Cursing

eloisereading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, War, Sexual assault, Violence, Colonisation, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Drug use, Self harm, Torture, Alcohol, Classism, Blood, Death of parent, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Religious bigotry, Child death, Cannibalism, Deportation, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

ladynocturnal's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

A book that is famed for having an unhinged, violent, and badass female character. This is what drew me to the series. Rin is not a good person. She is cruel, egotisical, and her anger controls nearly all her actions. She is in dire need of some more character development. She constantly makes foolish decisions that had me screaming at her since book one. I understand that her anger is a major flaw that sabotages her, but she never learns from her mistakes. I can recommend this book if you enjoy military and grimdark fantasy and can tolerate a stagnant main character. This book does not shy away from the horrors of war and how there are truly no "good guys" to be found. There are very poignant points on colonialism and the reality of war. Another flaw in R.F. Kuang's writing is that everything is spelled out for you. There were many times when lines, concepts, and major themes were drilled into your head out of fear that the reader might miss the point. This was hard to ignore. While I enjoyed this series I can't ignore the fact that this final book was a bit of a letdown.

The way the Trifecta was killed off was so anti-climatic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Murder, Violence, War, Drug abuse, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Kidnapping and Genocide

Minor: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Torture

icy_queen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Classism, Torture, Addiction, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcohol, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Drug use, Drug abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Child abuse, Slavery, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Minor: Abortion and Infertility

chasinggrace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Medical content, Excrement, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Stalking, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Classism, Cursing, Death, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, War, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, and Vomit

hyithia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

• a very morally ambiguous main character that I loved/hated and I can't be mad at her for it
• overall interesting plot
• all characters had their complicated motives - no character seemed flat and all main characters developed well
• pacing was okay, but the ending felt very rushed compared to the rest of the book
• the parallel to colonization was clear and it made for a more emotional and intense narrative
• I loved the shamanism concept. I liked that the gods are to be feared, especially as a conduit, allowing them to inflict their will on the world
• I wish that we could have learned more about all 64 deities
• Disabled representation is present, which cannot be said of many books
• Rin raising an army of shamans makes a lot of sense for her character and the war - desperate times call for desperate measures
• Rin's manic episode at the end was a fascinating character arc. at first, she refused to bend the knee, then realized her mistake, sacrificing herself and Kitay to Nezha for the greater good of her people. I found this arc so captivating because it illustrated the war-inflicted paranoia on Rin, especially after accusing Venka of being a traitor (but who knows, maybe she was... I enjoyed Rin and Venka's comradery though, so I hope not...)
• wasn't too much of a fan of the dragon arc - it didn't make much sense to me why the dragon would attack the city rather than try to capture Nezha and Rin. I did like that the dragon was more powerful than the phoenix and that the dragon was unbeatable because I think that is "realistic".
• the torture that both Rin and Nezha endured by the Hesperians was disgusting but was analogous to how colonizers treated those whom they were colonizing. it is an important narrative to show. similarly, I found the mindset that the Hesperians had towards the Nikara revolting. again, however, the mindset that a certain race is inherently better than another is one that people have had and have used to justify irreparable harm to those groups that they have decided are somehow lesser than.
  I hope that those who read this series notice, appreciate, and internalize the historical parallels, as to me, the historical parallels are core to this series. R.F. Kuang has done something truly amazing with this series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Addiction, Blood, Genocide, Physical abuse, Suicide, War, Colonisation, and Death

potion96's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Classism, Murder, War, Cannibalism, Addiction, Child death, Colonisation, Body horror, Violence, Torture, Genocide, and Blood