Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

14 reviews

anispaperbacks's review

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced
  • 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

I think I'm still in shock of finishing the trilogy.. 
 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.
Speaking of such, the times in the book where she seemed to just have incredible divine power and influence, specifically at the Anvil and Mount Tianshen, were just SO satisfying to read. In general, it was great to see Rin once again fall into a devote-myself-to-this-superior-force-because-they-tell-me-how-crucial-i-am-to-the-cause-but-then-the-second-im-not-anymore-im-instantly-betrayed-and-discarded situation and then just go fuck this im doing my own thing now


Spoiler for both this book and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes lmao:
In chapter 33 I couldn't help but draw a comparison to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The character, determined for things to end how they will it, spiralling severely into paranoia, which then violently turns them against the person they were closest to (although Coriolanus was a bit more of a straight up horrible person and did not have any even slightly redeeming qualities lol). 


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. 

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k4meli4's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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winterwoodbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful slow-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

The ending was perfect for this amazing series and I loved everything about it.
The character work is immaculate.

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rnbhargava's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing 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

4.5

The Poppy War Trilogy caps off in amazing fashion. I hear what others have griped about with this last instalment. However, I loved reading through the further corruption of Rin as the war comes to a climax, where she gets huge victories and crushing literal and moral defeats. Rin gradually losing herself and so many senses of trust and belonging anywhere while persevering through this gruelling conflict is mesmerizing. Also, the way it wraps up definitely must have torn a chasm in readers of the books. Does she make that choice for herself or is it another instance of a female character choosing something to ultimately progress male characters that may not deserve it.

The Dragon Republic was a minor misstep but overall I would give the series a 4-4.5. I actually believe I’ll revisit this book series in the future. R.F. Kuang has a space in my heart as an author to watch. Good thing I already got Babel and Yellowface already for whenever I choose to read them. 

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hailsatan's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.25


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ka_ke's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

Ugh my heart can’t take anymore damage. RF Kuang really knows how to reel you in and then kick you in the teeth, but you’ll enjoy every moment. I love that Kitay becomes a strong, fully formed character and that we get closure across the board (even if some of it doesn’t go the way we wanted it to) While the ending is admirable and beautiful, I wish it hadn’t ended that way, but I suppose thats the moral of war and therefore the Poppy War Trilogy. 

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zharaa13's review against another edition

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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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being_stupid's review against another edition

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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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tori_mccausland's review

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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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ccpetrikas's review

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dark 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

3.75

I thought this was a good ending to the trilogy but not as strong as I was expecting. Still worth the listen but I was a little disappointed with the ending 

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