Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

146 reviews

kmae314's review

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

lindseyhall44's review

dark emotional slow-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

5.0

I am so incredibly sad right now. Thank you R.F. kuang for creating one of the best fantasy series I have ever read. There is so much to be learned from these books, both of history, today, and tomorrow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Confinement, Death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Grief, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Gore, Miscarriage, Racism, War, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Kidnapping, Rape, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

nataaaliya's review

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

cturn's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Blood, Genocide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Death, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Genocide, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Torture, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, and Toxic friendship

vanessacorwin's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Colonisation, Grief, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Genocide and Xenophobia

sweetxsage's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This story is so gut-wrenching. I finished this final book while trying to go to sleep around two am but i just kept crying. my heart breaks for the pain all of these children had to endure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, War, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Xenophobia

lglais's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 Essa trilogia é, acima de tudo, uma tragédia realística - mesmo que temos uma personagem principal que consegue produzir fogo do nada, porque está ligada a deusa Fênix.
R. F. Kuang, assim como em Babel, sustenta um personagens que desejam o melhor para o mundo, que almejam uma revolução humanitária. O problema é que, assim como no mundo real, o futuro do mundo está na mão dos seres humanos, pessoas egoístas que desejam apenas o bem para si e a sustentação de seus desejos e confortos. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death of parent, Colonisation, Death, Body horror, Xenophobia, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Blood, Grief, Racism, Sexism, War, Murder, and Violence

lydiasturges's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

I’m wrecked. 

Seeing Rin’s downward spiral was so heartbreaking. Clearly she wanted what was best for the Nitara, but didn’t know how to do it without turning to cruelty like the Trifecta. That ending of her almost turning on Kitaly??? Gut wrenching.

 I never stopped loving Nekah. He was in a shitty situation just trying to make the best of it. Hearing his perspective at the very end, and seeing just how much he loved Rin, ruined me. They both genuinely thought they were doing the best for their country. I just wish they could have been true allies.

The last pages of Rin’s perspective and those last pages in Nekah’s perspective were perfection and absolutely tragic.

I am emotionally exhausted after this series. It feels like nothing can go right for Rin. But I genuinely can’t wait to reread these and get even more from it the second time. What an amazing commentary Kuang makes! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Cannibalism and Xenophobia

anispaperbacks's review

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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Content Warnings

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

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Gore, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Xenophobia, Suicide, Torture, and Rape