Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Republika smoka

Alas I have finished this book. I believe this book was paced muches better than the poppy war, lost however certain shock value as the plot was always moving on a similar scale. The characters were abled to be further fleshed out (

albeit most are dead now

) And I believe

through the bonding of Rin and Kitay

we as readers were further able to understand the dynamics of their friendships. Generally Rin's emotions throughout the book were handled in more variety and more vulnerableness was shown from her. Plot wise I was bored sometimes as it felt rather repetitive in the middle. I also believe the foreshadowing was handled very outright (not necessarily bad, just took away any shock), because of this the plot points revealed by the end just weren't surprising. The writing was handled beautifully, as expected.

The handling of European colonisation was shown very well in my opinion. So was the religious propaganda of sorts from the Hesperians. The addition of Augus was also very well put.

I am also very satisfied with the discussions of rape in this book once again. Venka's character now also having an identity as an ally and friend is so good. Daji's also strongly being influenced by rape by a Westerner also helped give a very direct understable reason of her hate.

I all in all enjoyed this book a lot but it doesn't quite top in ratings for me.

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mmccombs's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

While not as sweeping and completely captivating as the first, I do think this one was an incredibly readable middle book. The first third or so felt a little slog-y, it seemed a bit repetitive and very much focused on military strategy (which is not really my thing, personally). However, part 3 really knocked my socks off, I felt I finally understood Rin’s character development and what Kuang was doing throughout the book. That last chapter (especially the last page or so)??! Talk about being on the edge of my seat for the next one! I was kind of feeling over it for the first bit, but now I can’t wait to see where this goes. Masterful storytelling, character building, and structure, excited to keep going!

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itsalljinri's review against another edition

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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

5.0

Porca puttana.

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