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itsjustgrumpy'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
4.5
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Death, Blood, Colonisation, Torture, Animal death, Grief, Murder, Child death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Violence, and War
Moderate: Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Kidnapping, Slavery, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cursing
anispaperbacks'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
4.0
Watching Rin and the decisions she made throughout The Burning God was so fascinating. You know she's making choices that a morally sound person would not really be making but you can't help but enjoy it with some kind of sick satisfaction.
Spoiler for both this book and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes lmao:
Anyway, this isn't much of a review yet, more just me sharing some thoughts I had. So:
Overall, this was a great last novel in the trilogy. Despite the fact that I do feel a little unsatisfied and jarred at the ending, its the way things should have probably gone. I didn't enjoy (if enjoy is the right word for The Horrors experienced) The Burning God as much as I did The Dragon Republic, which is still by far my favourite in the trilogy, but this still rakes up 4 stars. I just feel like a lot of the book, I wasn't as invested in what was going on? I guess it just felt like there was a fair bit of reading to get to the bits which were just a bit more interesting to read, which IS fair for the topic of the book and understanding the gravity of everything going on, you can't have a book about war without large amounts of chapters on the military movements and engagements. It didn't diminish the book for me but The Burning God just wasn't quite what The Dragon Republic was to me.
I'm never going to forgive R.F Kuang for what she has done to me. In my review of TDR, I'm pretty sure I said I would kill myself if anything happened to Rin and Kitay so I better get onto that then. /lhj The trilogy was devastating and the characters are just so believable and complex. I adore how R.F Kuang writes and I'm not sure what to do with myself now that I've finished all the books. These books just amazingly well show the absolute horrors and brutality of war. The absolute devastation it leaves in its wake. How it changes people and what it drives them to do. The Poppy War trilogy has got to be one of my favourite fantasy series I have read, they are so well done.
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Murder, War, Xenophobia, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Vomit, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Grief, and Racial slurs
Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infertility, Bullying, and Excrement
annabel_winter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, War, Gore, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Xenophobia, Suicide, Torture, and Rape
kiwibird5's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Vomit, War, Blood, Child death, Rape, Torture, Sexual assault, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Cursing, Death, Self harm, Cannibalism, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Suicide, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Violence
eloisereading'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
4.75
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
icy_queen's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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
- 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.
Graphic: Racism, Addiction, Blood, Genocide, Physical abuse, Suicide, War, Colonisation, and Death
wytherwytch'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
4.75
Graphic: Death, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Grief, Classism, Suicide, Mental illness, Rape, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Blood, Animal death, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty
laryisrrading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Hate crime, Torture, Death, Gore, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Drug use, Mental illness, War, Violence, and Gaslighting