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violaceae's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Abandonment
isabellaft'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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy
kirbylover16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation
Kinda everything...andromeda_1998'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
4.0
As the people who read my review of the poppy war will know, I love the character and worldbuilding in this series. R.F. Kuang shows us the brutality of war in a really graphic way. And I believe this is the only way to make people see the history of humankind. A lot of readers have problems with the gruesome depictions of war in this series but this is how war looks like. The most horrendous things have been done in wartime’s and we have to acknowledge the fact that humanity could have been spared a lot of horrors if we would just accept each other. R.F Kuang says it best: “They believe in a singular and all-powerful deity, which means they cannot accept the truth of other gods. And when nations start to believe that other beliefs lead to damnation, violence becomes inevitable.”
Why did I give this amazing book 4 stars instead of five? The start of this book is slow. At around a hundred pages the story picks up but around 300 pages it falls flat and I had to fight till around 500 pages in for the plot to pick up again.
This book could have been better and I feel one of the reasons that this happens is because there isn’t a lot happening between the characters. We don’t really get scenes where they get to know each other. This book focuses on the war talk and the strategy behind fights and sometimes you head just needs a break and some human interaction between characters could do the trick.
I would still recommend this series though! The books are amazing but before you start reading them check the triggerwarnings!
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Miscarriage, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol
andreia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
just to clarify, i've read some 5 star reviews of this and i can totally see why people love it & why this series is so praised. i really can. my rating is completely subjective and based on my personal enjoyment reading this, but i can understand how this would appeal to a lot of people because it's not by any means objectively bad.
it's hard to read a book about constant war, at times with very explicit violence, and have fun reading it. especially when you're very aware that immense suffering/violence is happening in real life (at the time i was reading this: palestine, columbia, india, etc.). it just feels very strange to willingly spend my free time picking up a book where the characters are constantly suffering.
and i know that's the point of this series, it relies heavily on real life events, the history of china, and it doesn't shy away from showing the true horrors of war. but knowing that didn't make it any easier to get through. this is so bleak from page 1 to the very end that it was hard for me to want to continue reading it.
it really didn't help that i was annoyed with rin the entire time. in my tpw review, i was ready to lay hands on anyone that dared criticize rin. i sympathized with her so much and was really rooting for some character growth in the second book. now i'm not even sure the author wants us to like rin. the way almost every single character called rin out on her bullshit throughout this book showed me that rebecca f. kuang knew exactly what she was doing, but i cannot for the life of me understand why you would want your main character to be so selfish, hypocritical and apathetic, even towards her closest friends.
i found it hard to care about anything that was happening because it was very obvious rin didn't care either. i feel like she completely lost her personality in this book and became someone who is inconvenient at the worst possible times and completely useless when we actually need her to take action. again, it's hard for me to care about anything if i'm not rooting for the main character.
i was also infuriated whenever altan was mentioned in this book because i really can't stand that man, so you can imagine my struggle when they would literally not stop talking about him the entire time. i was somewhat interested in chaghan x altan but the fact that it was causing so much conflict with rin became annoying after a while. my expectation going into this would be that rin would learn from what happened with altan and grow into someone who knows her worth and stands up for herself. instead, SURPRISE, fucking vaisra is here to be the next altan and rin is back to letting a horrible abusive man dictate her life/purpose for her. the worst part is that it's a conscious choice, she literally says at some point that she needs to be used and given orders so she has a purpose.
i can't even tell what the author's intentions were because it was all very inconsistent at times. i can kind of see how this might be a realistic portrayal of a young woman who's been through everything rin has, but there's so many moments where she's completely ready to take on the world and fight anyone in her way, and then just as quickly she's back to square 1 after an inconvenience.
other than that, i can't say i was surprised by any other plot twist that happened in this book, unfortunately it was all very predictable. which is not necessarily a bad thing, especially being based in real history, but yeah. if i'd been more invested in the characters i might overlook it, but since i'm annoyed at pretty much everyone (except kitay and the cike), well.
ultimately, i think reading this right after tpw also did not help because, again, this whole series is so dark and bleak, there's not a moment's rest for the violence and sadness, which understandably brought my mood down a little. at times i even felt like certain acts of violence and the way they were explicitly written were purely for shock value (like the rape scene, which made me so uncomfortable i'm still not over it, and i'm angry that it's a thing because it feels pointless to be that descriptive. i get it, it's a war, these things happen, but you can't convince me that scene added anything to the plot other than shock value).
i am gonna read the third book because i've already gotten this far and would like to see how it ends for all the characters (especially nezha). but i'm definitely gonna take a break from this series for a while before finishing because i can't say i'm looking forward to it </3
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder
marlireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Vomit and Abortion
gdenav'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
3.5
Moderate: Alcoholism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Child abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
olivialandryxo'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
4.5
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
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
niharikapasi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Genocide, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Rape and Toxic relationship
notthatlibrarian'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: Addiction, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Abortion