Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

191 reviews

theshanana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Xenophobia, Violence, Gun violence, Racism, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Child death and Forced institutionalization

anitaboeira's review

4.5

It's gritty. But it's also better fantasy world building and plotting and characters than Martin and Jordan could even dream of. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Murder, Rape, Xenophobia, War, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Drug use, Colonisation, Blood, Torture, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide attempt

syddey_syd's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

3.75

BRUTAL. 

Kuang has the ability to keep me on my toes with this series. I never knew what was coming next, but I did always know it wouldn’t be good. 

Rin is a difficult character to like (in my opinion). Her decisions often baffle me, but they fit her character. The brutality of war is very manifest in this book; possibly a little less graphic than the first, but not by much. Racism, classicism, sexism—all of the isms are present. It made for a ponderous read, and I often had to take breaks because the subject matter was so heavy. 

In terms of moving along the series, this was a fitting sequel to the first book. Rin had some character development, Nikara politics thicken, and even more outside forces come into play. I’m very interested to see how Kuang ties up the series. Reading is like watching a train wreck—it’s terrible and messy, but I can’t seem to look away. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Drug use, Religious bigotry, War, Addiction, Classism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Racism, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Rape

acepiary's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Drug use, Xenophobia, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, War, Death, Classism, and Grief

pauliana93's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Genocide, Rape, Violence, Colonisation, Sexism, Racism, and Xenophobia

cturn's review against another edition

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Blood, Drug use, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Violence, Addiction, and War

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Alcohol, and Miscarriage

lifeinsilver's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An excellent sequel to the Poppy War. I loved to watch the characters become more complex and see more of the politics of the world evolve 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Child death, Addiction, Genocide, Drug use, Death, Torture, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, War, and Violence

queenkath32's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Death, War, Blood, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Rape, Violence, and Addiction

Moderate: Self harm, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Classism, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Cursing, Genocide, Sexual violence, Confinement, and Murder

10stormlight's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Addiction, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, War, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Grief, Drug abuse, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, Animal death, Excrement, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Self harm, Colonisation, Gun violence, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Genocide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Abortion

sweetxsage's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

It's been such a difficult read to get through. I love love Zeller as a narrator, but their voice brings to life such terrible characters and listening while not being able to do anything is disheartening. Kuang is an amazing story teller, and this second book was perfect. If you can handle the heavy topics in the first book, you'll be able to get through this one as well. It's hard to say you enjoy something that is filled with such pain, but it reminds me of how complex humans can be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Genocide, War, Addiction, Xenophobia, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual assault