Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Republika smoka by R.F. Kuang

26 reviews

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

Moderate: Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Miscarriage

darnays's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Ableism, Body horror, and Drug use

sorodeeznuts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

blazing_orchids's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

olivialandryxo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

Starting an adult fantasy novel whilst in the middle of a reading slump might not have been my best idea. Despite that, I was immediately immersed in this book, as if there hadn’t been a several month gap between me reading The Poppy War and me reading The Dragon Republic. Kuang masterfully writes complex, morally grey characters, and weaves multiple subplots into a story that’s fascinating despite it’s occasionally slower pacing, also integrating discussions of heavier topics relevant both in Rin’s world and our own. So many mind-blowing things happened in this book, and I look forward to picking up The Burning God as soon as I’m in the mood for fantasy again.

I love Rin and Kitay’s friendship. I loved seeing Venka and Rin become allies and then friends. Rin and Nezha’s dynamic was also very interesting to me. I know this series is a military fantasy inspired by real Chinese fantasy and it isn’t at all focused on romance, but can I just say that there’s SOMETHING going on between those two? Is that just me? While I like the way his character was written, I don’t love Nezha the way I do Rin and Kitay. I’m in a love-hate relationship with him at the moment. I’m excited yet concerned to see what unfolds in the final novel, given that every single review of it I’ve seen just talks about how heart-wrenching it is. I’ll get there eventually.

Representation

• protagonist of color
• some side characters of color

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Medical trauma

Minor: Ableism, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Abortion

m_________'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, and Excrement