Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

59 reviews

ginalucia's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

 I gotta say, this book doesn't hold back - it's brutally honest and dark, making it kinda tough to fully connect with the main character, Rin.

As our main protagonist and antihero (the whole book is pretty much from her perspective), she’s hard to love. I know this was intentional. Her purpose isn’t to make us love her, it’s to teach us something about war.

While it achieves this, it does get stuck in a loop. Rin seems to be going over the same struggles and thoughts without much progress, which can feel a bit repetitive after a while. At times, I felt my brain drifting off as she came to the same conclusion over and over again.

The power dynamics in the story constantly shift, which adds to the complexity - but it can also feel messy and overwhelming at times. 

And when it comes to the big climactic moments? I gotta admit, I felt kinda detached. Like, I was expecting this big emotional punch, but it just didn't hit me the way I thought it would. But maybe that was the point - to show how you can become desensitised to war. In which case, nice work R.F. Kuang.

The Burning God, and The Poppy War series is a challenging read. It's not always easy to digest, but the honesty and depth of the storytelling are absolutely worth it. While this last book didn’t quite hit like the first two for me, I’m absolutely happy I took the time to get through it.

For more reviews and book recommendations, check out my YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/ginaluciayt 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Murder, Genocide, Death, War, Violence, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Suicide, and Hate crime

Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Vomit, Classism, Xenophobia, Animal death, Toxic friendship, and Forced institutionalization

johnathanwet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Tragic and beautiful end to a truly gruesome series. I don’t think this could have played out any other way, and the tale Kuang has woven over this poor girl is truly on of a kind

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Genocide, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Grief, Drug use, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, War, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Murder

cturn's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Blood, Genocide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Death, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Genocide, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Torture, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, and Toxic friendship

kiwibird5's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, War, Blood, Child death, Rape, Torture, Sexual assault, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Cursing, Death, Self harm, Cannibalism, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Suicide, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Violence

haleymk's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

REBECCA !!! WHEN I CATCH YOU REBECCA!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, War, Murder, Blood, Death, Drug use, Violence, Addiction, Cursing, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Racism, Rape, and Vomit

flamesocks's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gore, Physical abuse, Addiction, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Blood, Self harm, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, War, Xenophobia, Racism, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Rape, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Genocide, Kidnapping, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Child death, Colonisation, Medical content, Murder, Slavery, Grief, and Mental illness

laryisrrading's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Hate crime, Torture, Death, Gore, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Drug use, Mental illness, War, Violence, and Gaslighting

izzywoo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, War, Genocide, Gore, Racial slurs, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Animal death, Grief, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Addiction, Classism, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Self harm

Moderate: Cannibalism

onthesamepage's review against another edition

dark 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

Let them think of us as dirt, Rin thought. She was dirt. Her army was dirt. But dirt was common, ubiquitous, patient, and necessary. The soil gave life to the country. And the earth always reclaimed what it was owed. 

I don't know what it is about Kuang's writing, but she makes books of 600+ pages just fly by. I had a really hard time putting this down, and it's not because it was particularly fast-paced. I just really love Kuang's writing that much, and I will honestly read anything she publishes in the future.

I'm going to structure this a bit differently, because there are a couple of specific things I want to talk about.

Rin & Kitay

 She no longer fought from pure rage. She fought to protect him—and that, she had discovered, changed everything. 

I already loved their dynamic in The Dragon Republic, but The Burning God was even better. Their friendship is everything. The love they have for each other, the way they care, the way Kitay is Rin's anchor in every sense of the word and not just to help her access the Phoenix. 

"I don't mean to call you stupid, because I love you, but that plan is so stupid."

That moment towards the end, where she accuses him of turning on her, absolutely broke my heart. Nothing in this book is really okay, but I wanted this one thing to be the exception. As Rin loses her grip on her humanity more and more, Kitay staunchly continues to remind her of the difference between right and wrong. He refuses to compromise his principles, even when he knows he can't stop her, and that this will break them apart.

Nezha

"You can't do this for me," he said. "I won't let you."
"It's not for you. It's not a favor. It's the cruelest thing I could do."

What I was hoping for didn't happen, because this is R.F. Kuang, so of course it didn't, and what we did get makes a lot more sense anyway—the kind of betrayal that Nezha committed against Rin isn't something you just forgive and forget. Because everything is from Rin's perspective, Nezha's motivations remain opaque, which makes some of his contrary behaviour hard to understand. But it also adds a complexity to his relationship with Rin & Kitay—more than once, he says something that clearly expresses that he never wanted their trio to break the way it did. But even though he has a tactical mind, there's a naivety to his interactions with Rin, especially when they have a chance to actually talk. He expects (or rather, wishes) her to act in a way that doesn't align with who Rin is as a person. But I can't really blame him—I had naïve wishes going in, too.

The plot
The book spends a lot of time on armies travelling, political backstabbing, developing strategies, and, of course, the battles themselves. I thought it made for a cohesive story, but I can understand that people might be bored by the cycle Rin falls into. The Trifecta was definitely one of the more interesting parts, but I was disappointed by how that plotline ended because it felt too easy considering all the build-up.

That said, I thought the ending was absolutely perfect for the series, and it's exactly what I would expect from this author.

This was never going to end with the three of them once again on the same side. Rin was too far gone for that, and Nezha too resigned to an alliance with Hesperia. And with Rin acting the way she was, the only possible ending was for her to die, so that the world might live. I thought it made sense, considering her journey and who she is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Cannibalism, Suicide, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape

min_grachi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Racism, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Addiction, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Blood, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Misogyny, and Violence