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laughingkatana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
loup's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Genocide, Gore, Vomit, and Police brutality
givemedatangst's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry
peggy_racham's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Deportation
stitchof's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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
moonymars's review against another edition
- 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
The one scene where she kills the Hesperian soldier filled me with so many emotions that I could write an entire 10 page essay about.
Venka siding with them at the end made me cry a river. Kitay and Venka my beloveds.
AND if all of that wasn't ENOUGH.
I haven't been so touched by characters dying for a LONG time now. I loved the Cike so much, especially Ramsa, I was one of my favs and now he's FUCKING DECEASED ??? How am I supposed to live without scenes like the ones where Changhan makes Kitay drink horse piss as a joke??
One of my favorite books of all time tho.
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
njthk's review against another edition
- 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
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.
The Hesperians.
Their beliefs were just scary and painfully familiar.
And all the other Characters were great too. Especially Kitay.
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Religious bigotry, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore and Suicide attempt
euclids_5th's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
- 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
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.
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