You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

119 reviews

tkhenry99's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.75

rin continues to be absolutely insufferable for 650 pages. the side characters are all immensely more interesting and pleasurable to read about.
such a shame rin avoids chaghan like the plague for most of the book and then he fucks off to the tundra for the rest of it


the plot lines started getting a little redundant by the end.
it’s literally just “this government is evil!” about literally every government in the series—first the mugenese, then the empress, then the hesperians/republic


also i get the whole brutalities of war thing but writing out/killing off literally everyone in cike except rin and chaghan (only bc he’s literally not in arlong) was a bit frustrating


also confused about what happens to the cike’s addictions….? the book explains rin’s but are we just supposed to assume everyone else had the same experience….? rin never asks them about it…..? 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

melvin02's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • 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

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

stitchof's review against another edition

Go to review page

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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

fareehareads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I only knocked down half a star because some of my favs perished in this book, but rest assured, this is a 5 star book. This is a game of thrones level, politically complex, brutal, sprawling epic fantasy and I'm so glad I'm on this journey. Fang Runin has got to be one of the most compelling fantasy protagonists I've met in a long time. I disagree with so many of her conclusions, but I root for her cause anyway because I know what drove her there. The provinces and their complicated relationships, the difficult choices made to end the Empress' reign, all the stakes being so high and of course Rin's life is always in the middle of it all, it's beautifully done. I get her anger, I want her to burn the world, but I also feel terribly sympathetic for her. It crushes me how many times she was see as less than human (the line 'I am not a dog.' was said more than once) and how even her closest friends looked down. Even now I don't believe she has a single living ally that I trust 100% (minus Kitay, he's proven himself. kind of.) It's incredibly maddening but it furthers her cause to ultimately burn all of it to the ground and I for one can't wait to watch her do it. The next part of this review is all a spoiler. 
Okay now for the pain. wowowowow the deaths were harsh and I knew they were coming but they still hurttt. Nezha STABBING her at the very end was not okay and I should have seen it coming because I didn't trust the boy for one second during the entire book, but I know Rin did and THAT is what hurts. All of these men that she either looks up to, loves, or admires always let her down so profoundly that she has no choice but to be her own support system. Makes me want to hug her.
Jinzha's death was great, super satisfying.
Qara's death I could see coming from a mile away since she got lines for the first time the whole series, but I like the little moment where she told Rin that she wasn't overpowered by Chagan she was simply in the spiritual world, that was nice. Ramsa, Suni and Baji's deaths were just unfair. They should have gotten a watery end in battle instead of on a chopping block. It also felt a bit cheap to me since it was acknowledged earlier that if the Hesperians knew that they were shamans maybe they would have been spared (tortured for sure, but with potential of a jail break). But it looks like the whole Cike plotline is being burned as a part of Rin's past. Chagan being the last among them is still annoying to me. All the annoying men in this that keep not dying sucks so much.

Overall this book is such a painful and incredible journey. I highly recommend it. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

caelinsullivan's review against another edition

Go to review page

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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

njthk's review against another edition

Go to review page

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? N/A

5.0

THIS WAS SO GOOD AND HEARTBREAKING AS ALWAYS.
Again a whole lot of politics, something I know people may dislike, because it makes this book lengthy, but I think it fit perfectly.
Great expansion of the world building.
I'm just afraid of what's going to happen next.
Loved Rins characterization, especially the slow deterioration of her psyche. Great representation of panic attacks, I could literally feel her spiraling.
The Hesperians.
Their beliefs were just scary and painfully familiar.
And all the other Characters were great too. Especially Kitay.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

yuzu_149's review against another edition

Go to review page

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!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ddnreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

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?

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

thebookishlibra_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings