Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

146 reviews

ddnreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

Akhirnya baca ulang versi bahasa Indonesia The Dragon Republic.
Tetep best read sih. It doesn't change any feelings of love I have toward TPW Trilogy. Tetap bikin remox endingnya😌

Buku yang penuh peperangan ini berisi lebih banyak tipu muslihat. Kawan adalah lawan dan bisa jadi lawan adalah kawan yang sesungguhnya. Karakter developmentnya ada banget, for better or worse 😂
Karakter dinamika yang ditampilkan juga jauh lebih 'sentimental'. Lebih banyak aktor penguasa baru yang nyebelin, and it says a lot. Menurutku, buku ini gacuma nyeritain tentang perang ideologi antara Kekaisaran dan Republik, tapi juga merefleksikan siapa 'dalang' dibalik perang-perang yang ternyata saling berhubungan ini. Secara ga langsung buku ini menampilkan soal penjajahan koloni, rasisme, dan pemaksaan suatu paham terhadap suatu kelompok orang yang mereka anggap 'tertinggal'. This is where the real issue lays. Selalu tentang yang merasa berkuasa dan menang menginjak-injak yang mereka anggap inferior. And I always always love the way rfk portrayed these colonizers. It's never not funny😌👌

For a book about genocide, it's super page turning. Gabosen dari awal sampe akhir. Ga ada teori2. Semuanya praktikal langsung terjun ke lapangan. 

Beberapa sejarah juga diceritain disini. Behind the scenes of trifecta (Maharani Si Daji, Master Jiang, dan Kaisar Naga Riga), suku pedalaman dari Utara (Changhan + Qara), dan sumber 'kekuatan' keluarga Yin.

Terjemahannya enak meskipun ada beberapa yang feel-nya kurang pas. 
Misal, Aku suka sekali padamu didn't do justice to Rin's "I love you" to Kitay's "I know." 
(Lebih cocok "Aku sangat menyayangimu." Atau "Aku mencintaimu, kau tau".)

Atau

"He's sprung like a—"
"Don't be vulgar."
≠ 
"Dia menerkam seperti—"
"Jangan vulgar."
Kitay bilang vulgar karena kata "sprung" biasa disama artikan dengan ereksi. Makanya responnya jangan vulgar.
(Menurutku pribadi lebih cocok "Nezha selalu siap diposisi. Dia berdiri seperti—")
But that's so technical and not so important 😅 

Tambahan dikit,
And Rin, for the best part, managed to devour her darkest nightmare.

Fuck Nezha, I love Sring Venka and Chen Kitay so so much u have no idea.

Real question: should I abandon all senses and order the translated version of TBG or listen to the cry of my weakening wallet?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Grief, War, Drug use, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Child death, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Colonisation, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Cannibalism, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture

heartsbyzak's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Blood, Classism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Violence, and War

pages_in_the_dark's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Classism, War, Addiction, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Sexual assault, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death, Self harm, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Cursing, Alcohol, Rape, Colonisation, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Medical content, Abandonment, and Slavery

hailsatan's review against another edition

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Child death, Gun violence, Incest, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Ableism, Abortion, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Cursing, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

nkookie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gore, Genocide, Addiction, Blood, War, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use

whenjessreads's review against another edition

4.0

After the DEVASTATION that was The Poppy War, I had been putting this book off in order to protect my little heart. But it was TIME.

The Dragon Republic was HEAVY. Not dark in the way that TPW was (if you recall, TPW was a reminder of some of the more horrendous war crimes committed in the Second Sino-Japanese War), but heavy in that it was a very geopolitical view  of the machinations of civil war.

I’m not entirely sure that this book fits into the fantasy genre. While the first book was very focused on shamanism and Gods and SPARKLE magical genocide SPARKLE, they took a back seat in The Dragon Republic, leaving the forefront for the war efforts - which were very much based on the movements of the Chinese Civil War of the 1940s. I would probably class this as historical fiction with a teensy bit of magic. For people who don’t enjoy historical fiction, this could be an issue. But maybe its a sneaky way for Kuang to teach us fantasy readers some things about our own world’s history 😂

I don’t read many war-based novels, but it presents an interesting dynamic when the main antagonist is absent through most of the book. This does tend to lessen the feeling of tension and lower the stakes a little, but… Kuang’s writing just does something to me. Would I usually be invested in a naval military fantasy with an absent antagonist? No. In fact, that’s why I stopped reading Game of Thrones. But the beauty of the writing in TDR kept me engaged.

I liked the portrayal of the MC. Rin is… not a good person (keep in mind she is Mao, in this version of Chinese history). She was a prideful, flawed and messy character (they all were!) and her experience of trauma and addiction is one that I thought was compelling and important.

However the MOST striking thing about this book was the representation of inequality, scientific/biological racism, and xenophobia. Every few pages I found myself inwardly cringing at the blatant reminder that throughout our world’s history, there have always been people who have been considered ‘other’, and ‘lesser’.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Abortion, Death, Gore, Addiction, Genocide, Misogyny, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Torture, Suicide, Xenophobia, Rape, Grief, Animal death, Drug use, Self harm, War, Colonisation, Body horror, Violence, Murder, and Racism

praaliine's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

miss kuang has done it again. this book was darker and more tragic than the first. when i thought i knew something, turns out i didn’t. this book really explored the tragedies of war and fighting the wrong enemy. also, r.f kuang ripped out my figurative heart and stomped on it repeatedly…pain…
A fantastic read, as expected.
P.S. watch out for chapter 28 (graphic SA towards the end of the chapter)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, Physical abuse, Rape, Vomit, Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Colonisation, Gaslighting, and Animal death

natfig's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Suicide, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Death, Confinement, Blood, Sexual harassment, Genocide, Drug use, Drug abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Cursing, Classism, Addiction, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Murder, Sexism, Emotional abuse, War, Violence, Alcohol, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Excrement

Minor: Gun violence, Cannibalism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Vomit, Slavery, Sexism, Miscarriage, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, and Abandonment

tinyjude's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

I'm emotionally and mentally exhausted lol what a ride. Some parts felt a bit too slow and made me feel disappointed with the treatment of the Cike overall in this book. The trauma exploration and Rin's journey through anger, grief, admiration, obsession and hunger (for blood) are the highlights of the book. The worldbuilding again is incredible, although I want to know much more about shamanism (maybe in the 3rd book pls???).

Also the huge and constant roasting to white colonizers. Get them!! I am with Rin all the way down through her desire to burn everything down.

Venka, Kitay and Ramsa, my beloveds.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, War, Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Rape, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Death, Gun violence, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Torture, Child death, Colonisation, and Slavery

Moderate: Abortion

stefy27's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, War, Physical abuse, Racism, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Animal death, Colonisation, and Emotional abuse