Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

63 reviews

paigemushaw's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Rape, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, and Body horror

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Abandonment, Abortion, Torture, and Medical content

Minor: Vomit and Cursing

unabridged_adventures's review against another edition

5.0

Utterly brutal. This book ripped out my heart and stomped on it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Death, Racism, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Colonisation, Classism, Body horror, Addiction, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Blood, and Murder

middumullu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.75

Read this in literally two days (thank you for the snow day!!) because it drew me in so deeply. I think it continued the story set up in the first book well, and the first half especially engaged with repercussions of some of the events that happened towards the end of the first book. I want to shake a lot of the characters and chat with them about how to handle big feelings. There continued to be a lot of war and politics involved in this story, I loved seeing the relationships between characters develop. A new group comes into play so that was interesting to see, I'm very curious about how all of these elements will tie together in the last book. Also extremely graphic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, War, Vomit, Violence, Toxic friendship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Rape, Racism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Abortion, Alcohol, and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

i read the dragon republic w/ increasing dread and trepidation bc i knew things wouldnt go well and shit would hit the fan eventually--if not intermittently--so now i feel torn between relief and disappointment that it wasnt as brutal as the first book. oh, things were still painful and the body count was high (so sad abt the cike casualities esp), but maybe bc i was expecting them, so they were a tad predictable.

this was a rly good book still, filled w/ the series' signature intricate war strategies, politicking, and complex motivations that culminated in satisfying and sometimes surprising character development, exploring themes of war and power, and adeptly showing that yts are shit, as so are most men (fcking nezha man..).

my major issue, however  is w/ the middle chunk: this book's thick and filled w/ events, but part 2 was kinda forgettable somehow, w/ most of the battles blurring into one another. i know that things happened but i still cant recall what exactly. nevertheless, my fav thing abt this book is hands down the relationship between rin and kitay; i'll be ok w/ everything turning to shit as long as kitay's ok. looking forward to seeing how going up against rank yts and snotty aristocrats w/ popular support will turn out for rin and her (sadly now very numerically diminished) gang.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Racism, Violence, Confinement, War, and Addiction

Moderate: Colonisation, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, and Torture

doodeedoda's review against another edition

adventurous 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: Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Grief, Drug abuse, Gore, Religious bigotry, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Addiction, Child death, Classism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Minor: Pregnancy, Abortion, Abandonment, Miscarriage, and Panic attacks/disorders

pamgrace18's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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: Gore, Sexism, Child death, Rape, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Genocide, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, and War

rvwn's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, and Emotional abuse

jamielikestoread's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, War, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Medical trauma, Addiction, Gore, Xenophobia, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence, Torture, and Toxic friendship

fernreadsometimes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, and Torture

Minor: Sexism

rileysradreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and War