Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

105 reviews

bites_of_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

I am immediately starting The Burning God.

Talk about character development, complex relationships, both with family, friends, and even enemies! Twists? Check! Reveals? Check! Incredible suffering? Absolutely. 

I said it in my thoughts about the previous book, if you can't read about war and horrible violence, don't even try this one. 

While some stories that have military tactics and such aren't my thing, I was on board with this one. I needed to know exactly what and why certain things needed to happen. I was intrigued from the first page since we do get more backstory on characters from the first book while continuing with Rin's story. Rin... oh Rin, where will you end up? I'm terrified for her and also cheering for her to no end. 

Now, I could go to bed, but I'm starting the next one now. Wish me luck. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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

lynseyye's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

caelinsullivan's review against another edition

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

moonystar's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Abortion

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

euclids_5th's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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’m writing this review minutes after I finished the book. This review is written without having read the third book, and will evaluate the book not as a standalone novel, but as a text that functions as the second piece of a trilogy.

Second books in any series have the very difficult task of keeping the reader interested, especially after a well done first book (like the Poppy War). Especially in trilogies, they don’t have the excitement of beginning the story or the satisfaction of ending it. In my experience, most second books fail to deliver. The pacing is off, or it’s a shaky transition, or they re-open questions that were already answered.

The Dragon Republic is not like that. Kuang performs a seamless transition from one book to the next, making it almost difficult to believe that it’s a separate text. She maintains a consistently captivating narrative flow, one that kept my heart thudding the entire way through. Y’all I finished this book in the span of 12 hours. At the same time, Kuang manages to gracefully pivot to different thematic inquiries, interrogating different sides of the topics she discussed in the first book while simultaneously introducing new ones.

Read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

greatlibraryofalexandra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Well this was an Empire-Strikes-Back level punch in the face of Red Rising proportions. 

I think I'm always going to love how Kuang just refuses to make anything morally easy. I'm also delighted by how much Rin reminds me of Katniss Everdeen in that she is so frequently a petulant, somewhat selfish, blunt-minded heroin who constantly needs to be guided by people who actually are smarter/better positioned than her. She's frustrating when she refuses to listen, but the lesson is in the learning. 

This is five stars for me. I love the breadth of it, the messiness of it, and how it utilizes good tropes in personalized ways. It's searing and brutal. On to The Burning God. 


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Nitpicks:

I can't believe I'm saying this, but one weird issue I had with this book was how often Rin & others gave emotional "Fuck off" or "Fuck yous" to people - it was so casual and so flippant that at the points when these words should have carried real emotional eight, they just...didn't. In other words...I felt like in an effort to consistently make this work YA, but dark as hell, Kuang wasn't utilizing her swear words with the best emotional thrust. 

I also note that the constant use of Venka as nothing more than a mouthpiece for female rape trauma was annoying. Towards the end, when Venka began to have real use to the story, this was less bothersome, but I mention it because if Kuang was male, I'd be ripping this plot device to apart as trauma porn. 

Given that the "prologue" -ish chapter of this book included Nezha's POV, I think the book as a whole suffers from not continuing to include his POV. I see him similarly to how I saw Letty in "Babel" - I'm not sure Kuang sent enough time in his character to then write some of what he did convincingly for me. But I'm also excited t osee how it all unfolds. 

Nezha, Nezha, Nezha...here is to hoping you are a Lando Calrissian, but I don't think you are.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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

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

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