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kmae314's review
- 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
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
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
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.
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
itsjustgrumpy's review
- 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
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
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
izzywoo's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, War, Genocide, Gore, Racial slurs, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Animal death, Grief, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Addiction, Classism, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Self harm
Moderate: Cannibalism
brynalexa's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Gore, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Body horror, Cannibalism, Drug use, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Confinement, Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Animal death, Child death, Grief, Hate crime, Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic friendship, War, Abortion, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Torture, and Violence
kesreads13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Death, Racism, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Gore, and Mental illness
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Abortion, Addiction, and Miscarriage
kaylaswhitmore's review
- 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
4.0
First, my praise for TBG… Where in the previous two books I felt like some of the relationships lacked the time required to endear me to them, this one absolutely flipped that upside down. In particular, I found that the party’s with Rin and Kitay were some of my favorite. Kuang really found such a tender and beautiful balance between love and friendship with those two, and the adamantly platonic aspect to their bond was a welcome one. In turn, Rin and Venka’s relationship was both inspiring and heartbreaking (if you’ve read it, you’ll understand), and I never would have predicted it becoming so strong. That, paired with Jiang’s final moments, really elevated my investment in Rin’s emotional character building (ironically enough).
Nezha and Rin on the other hand…. Fuck, man. What a twist in the gut. I’ll be honest, the optimist in me was really rooting for them even tho the pessimist in me saw the parallels coming a mile away. Even still, it was a gut wrenching way to close out the series and I honestly couldn’t see it ending any differently. That hurts to say, but I do think that the strength of Kuang’s writing is that she created a deliciously complex main character. When I loved her, I LOVED her, and while I never hated her, I couldn’t help but cringe at her lack of foresight at times.
That brings me to my critiques. As a whole, I think this is a super well-thought out trilogy, especially considering Kuang was only 19 when TPW was published and 23 when TBG was published! Insane! However, I do feel that my biggest issue with the series is that it presented such a deeply painful world with too little reprieve. It’s not that I think she needed to soften the pain, but that she might have added more little joys and moments that allowed us to understand why anyone would ever want to keep living in this world lol. Sometimes, the best way to set up a tragedy is to surround it with comedy or lightness, and I personally felt that her endless strings of tragedy throughout the series led me to a jadedness of emotion—such that the ending lacked some of its potential “punch.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I still cried haha, but I think it could have made me sob if I had actually believed that any of them could achieve a happy ending. But aside from that, the only other issues I had were perhaps differences of writing style—which is of no fault of Kuang. Just simple preference.
All in all, I think this book alone had a wonderful richness of tone and a stunningly heartbreaking narrative. I will most definitely reread it in the future and hope others take on this world as well. It certainly left me much food for thought, and I thoroughly enjoyed the mythical and tragic telling of Rin Fang’s life. Then again, Im always a sucker for female rage represented well ;)
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, War, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Colonisation, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Confinement, and Cursing
st4rchaser's review
- 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
Graphic: Death, Racism, War, Genocide, Colonisation, Drug use, Violence, Suicide, Gore, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Cannibalism and Rape
Minor: Forced institutionalization