Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

68 reviews

stitchof's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kys831's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

linneak'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, and Abortion

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol

allisonmspiers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Torture, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Genocide, Racial slurs, Abortion, and Alcohol

not listed above: hallucinations, human experimentation, massacres, mutilations

yuzu_149's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

The 2nd book doesn't disappoint! This was a really addictive read and I kept picking it up even the book is quite long. Like the first book though, the Dragon Republic still has a bit of issues with pacing, and I feel like it's more obvious here. I understand that she was building the world up with the necessary details, but the middle half took a while to get through. The first part where Rin struggled with the consequences of her actions from book 1 before she finally pulled herself together was also a bit tough to read. 

I still enjoyed the themes covered in this book a lot. The betrayals of various characters were beautifully written. Characterisation was done well here, and I liked how the friendships Rin had with her old classmates was explored more here. Kuang is ruthless when it comes to killing off our beloved characters though hahaha. 

If you're someone who enjoys intricate details about history, military strategy, naval battles, colonisation etc woven nicely into the storyline, you'll enjoy this a lot!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Racism, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

Minor: Slavery, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

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

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

mothmanuwu'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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism and Abortion

allenuhh's review against another edition

3.0

I feel like the book is solid in a literary sense but grimdark fantasy just isn't for me. It's just hard to get through, I felt similarly about Poppy War. 

Again, not bad just mentally exhausting, I can't marathon these books, I need months between. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

dinossaurinholeitor_ray's review against another edition

dark 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: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and War

Moderate: Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Abortion

faroroshae's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Loved this book. It tore my emotionless heart into pieces, just what I needed. An all nighter well spent. Now I will sleep.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, and Abortion