Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

62 reviews

elizabeth_helmer's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Addiction, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Drug abuse, Violence, War, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Rape, Grief, Gore, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

ellenwm'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

“…They cannot accept the truth of other gods. And when nations start to believe that other beliefs lead to damnation, violence becomes inevitable.”

The world building and cadence of Kuang’s writing is mesmerizing. I’m not normally one for war-focused literature but it’s very compelling. The moral quandaries pondered in this book overtly and through the plot and character growth are weighty. Who is responsible for a society’s violence and inhumanity? What do we owe other humans? What is actual kindness? Like the first in this series, it covers colonization, war, violence, white supremacy, religion as weapon. So it’s a little difficult to continue at times when you’re not up to being emotionally slayed. All the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Drug abuse, Blood, Xenophobia, Slavery, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Classism, Death, War, Violence, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Genocide

Minor: Abortion

nikireadss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I liked this book so much more than the first one! It started slow to around 15% of the book but then when it took off, the pace never slowed down but still built up until the very last page.

This time Nezha won the award for the most annoying character, taking over Rin’s spot in the ranking. Despite the genocide in the first book, which is not excused, Rin’s had a big character development. She was still very annoying for most of the book but slowly started to make logical decisions near the end of this book. Talking about the characters I have to prize Kitay, who made some of the smartest decisions in this series. 

Overall I liked how much we learned about the world and its origins in this part. So many plot twists. We also lost so many characters. My poor cike, each one of them was so hard to say goodbye to. Thanks to all events this book didn’t feel like the almost 800 pages it was. It didn’t feel like it could be any shorter and every page felt delectable. 

This one is my favorite so far!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Xenophobia, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Rape, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Grief, Toxic friendship, War, Cursing, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Genocide, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Racism, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Body horror, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, and Torture

kasssidyy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Damn. Another horribly violent, utterly captivating book. 

This wasn’t as good as the first. The middle was quite boring - interesting but repetitive so it was a bit of a push. Rin is so annoying but can’t help to love her. Nezha sucks

Part III was fantastic. I wanted to throw up but I loved it. 

There’s so many content warnings. Just assume every one is in there

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Suicide, Sexual violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Murder, War, Torture, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Rape, Gore, Drug use, Death, Child death, Addiction, Blood, and Genocide

sierraclimbs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

3.75

I did not enjoy the first half of this book. It was just the same thing over, and over, and over. War, war, war. I was honestly confused a few times wondering “how could we possibly have moved on so fast to battle just to have the same conflict in a slightly different context” 
But for a second book, overall it was quite good. I’m feeling more & more attached to these flawed characters. Again, very Game of Thrones esque.

You also need to be careful getting attached to characters… like in Game of Thrones

There was also a kinda sorta enemies to lovers thing going on that I loved! It’s refreshing to read something where romance isn’t the primary focus, not even the secondary focus, but is still acknowledged.
I’m so interested to see how this story ends…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Torture, Racism, Physical abuse, Death, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Drug abuse, Gore, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Violence, Religious bigotry, Rape, Addiction, Body horror, Drug use, Classism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Hate crime, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Slavery, Alcohol, and Vomit

If you’re here, presumably you’ve read the first book. I would say this second book has moments where it is harsher than the first… more graphic. But if you were able to handle the first book, you should be fine.

margarcia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Rape, Abandonment, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child abuse, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual assault, Vomit, Confinement, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Miscarriage, Child death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, War, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Death, Gun violence, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Blood, Drug use, Murder, and Torture

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

3.75

So the second book was battle after battle after battle. I really enjoyed the comedic relief parts between friends and I kind of wish this book had more of that. It seemed like this book was full throttle without a break. I would have gladly had less battle scenes for more friendship building. I honestly might feel more connected to the characters. 

However, she does have me still intrigued on how this war ends. I am glad this ended with Rin with some backbone. She got a little annoying to me throughout most of this book. But I totally get character development. 

I am looking forward to reading the last one! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug abuse, Animal death, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Classism, Abandonment, Colonisation, Genocide, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Death, Mental illness, Addiction, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, War, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Gaslighting, Murder, Body horror, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Rape, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

noms01'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Holy shit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Death, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Addiction, Blood, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Abortion

bookishedi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Self harm

Moderate: Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Misogyny, Rape, Physical abuse, Abortion, Slavery, and Miscarriage

Minor: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

threemjen'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Murder, Colonisation, Slavery, War, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Self harm, Abandonment, Drug use, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence