Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

93 reviews

andromeda_1998's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-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 really liked the poppy war and even though I loved this book as well there is a reason the Dragon Republic get 4 stars instead of 5. 

As the people who read my review of the poppy war will know, I love the character and worldbuilding in this series. R.F. Kuang shows us the brutality of war in a really graphic way. And I believe this is the only way to make people see the history of humankind.  A lot of readers have problems with the gruesome depictions of war in this series but this is how war looks like. The most horrendous things have been done in wartime’s and we have to acknowledge the fact that humanity could have been spared a lot of horrors if we would just accept each other. R.F Kuang says it best: “They believe in a singular and all-powerful deity, which means they cannot accept the truth of other gods. And when nations start to believe that other beliefs lead to damnation, violence becomes inevitable.” 

Why did I give this amazing book 4 stars instead of five? The start of this book is slow. At around a hundred pages the story picks up but around 300 pages it falls flat  and I had to fight till around 500 pages in for the plot to pick up again. 

This book could have been better and I feel one of the reasons that this happens is because there isn’t a lot happening between the characters. We don’t really get scenes where they get to know each other. This book focuses on the war talk and the strategy behind fights and sometimes you head just needs a break and some human interaction between characters could do the trick. 

I would still recommend this series though! The books are amazing but before you start reading them check the triggerwarnings! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Trafficking

totallyshelfaware's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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

4.75

Goddamnit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Xenophobia, Animal death, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Abortion

maddiebusick's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, and Genocide

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Vomit

fennel's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence

olivialandryxo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

Starting an adult fantasy novel whilst in the middle of a reading slump might not have been my best idea. Despite that, I was immediately immersed in this book, as if there hadn’t been a several month gap between me reading The Poppy War and me reading The Dragon Republic. Kuang masterfully writes complex, morally grey characters, and weaves multiple subplots into a story that’s fascinating despite it’s occasionally slower pacing, also integrating discussions of heavier topics relevant both in Rin’s world and our own. So many mind-blowing things happened in this book, and I look forward to picking up The Burning God as soon as I’m in the mood for fantasy again.

I love Rin and Kitay’s friendship. I loved seeing Venka and Rin become allies and then friends. Rin and Nezha’s dynamic was also very interesting to me. I know this series is a military fantasy inspired by real Chinese fantasy and it isn’t at all focused on romance, but can I just say that there’s SOMETHING going on between those two? Is that just me? While I like the way his character was written, I don’t love Nezha the way I do Rin and Kitay. I’m in a love-hate relationship with him at the moment. I’m excited yet concerned to see what unfolds in the final novel, given that every single review of it I’ve seen just talks about how heart-wrenching it is. I’ll get there eventually.

Representation

• protagonist of color
• some side characters of color

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Blood, Body horror, Addiction, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Xenophobia, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Ableism, Abortion, Pedophilia, and Miscarriage

goldengirlbookclub's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia

podanotherjessi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-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

4.75

Even better than the first one! You know the characters already, so they gain so much more depth in this book. The plot is much more consistent as well, creating a coherent story. The plot was much more enticing over all. I really liked the first book, but I loved this one.

Characters: 10
Plot: 9
Setting: 10
General appeal: 10
Writing style: 9
Originality: 10
Ending: 8

Spoiler free, The Poppy War trilogy review: https://youtu.be/H0xdme4atzo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, and Panic attacks/disorders

svarshi's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, and Gore

Moderate: Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Rape, Self harm, Torture, and Vomit

notthatlibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gore, Racism, Religious bigotry, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Blood, Genocide, Gun violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

m_________'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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: Addiction, Xenophobia, Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Confinement, Child death, Body horror, and Blood

Minor: Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Bullying, and Alcoholism