Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

80 reviews

fruitea's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

very gritty. the descriptions of battles etc. are very straight to the point, like there’s no sugar coating to make things seem less horrific. we see how the characters become desensitised to atrocities. they’re not invincible. they’re scared and angry and desperate and tormented. nothing about war is romanticised, which is a refreshing change from a lot of the other books about war i’ve read. it makes you think, “if i were in that situation, i’d never do something like that,” at first. then it makes you question your own principles, just as the characters do. it’s war. it’s horrifying and traumatising, people are unsympathetic and selfish, which is understandable because they’re terrified for their own lives, so to have to worry about thousands of others in the same situation would destroy their minds completely. i could go on about this book aaaaaaaaa the characters are so complex and interesting also i cried a lot reading this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, War, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

hayleyvem's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy

zoyaology's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, War, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, and Cannibalism

isabellaft's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, and Racism

Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy

bookbaristeas's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, and Violence

kirbylover16's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• 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

I love Rin's continued growth as a character. She struggles with addiction, how to be a leader, and with just being herself. It took forever but she finally realizes how much she idealized Altan and how she doesn't have to be him. I don't think the love triangle needed to last as long as it did and I don't like the fact that none of the relationships are good and healthy. There's a lot of twists especially as you get to the end of the book some of which land and others that you can see from a mile away. The first book feels more memorable to me but this is still a great read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Violence

Kinda everything...

andromeda_1998's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

4.0

I really liked the poppy war and even though I loved this book as well there is a reason the Dragon Republic get 4 stars instead of 5. 

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! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Trafficking

ollie85915's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Drug abuse, Violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Genocide, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abortion and Cannibalism

butchriarchy's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

2.0

It was just absolutely ridiculous for the entire first half. So many times the literal children would be talking back to powerful warlords and they would get away with it. This time the abundance of F-bombs also frustrated me, even from elders and also warlords. To me it felt very clumsy and cliche. It was still very entertaining, I'll give it that.

My problem with the first book resurfaced with this one as well--the villains are too cartoonish, not given any plausible reason for being evil--you're just supposed to accept that they are. Some things I will give it credit for--the renunciation of an abuser, for one.

Real-world parallels abound as well as should have been expected, but it struck me as very Animal Farm-ish in that it feels as though no real effort was made to make them into their own entities. The textbook racism, white supremacy, and eugenics were very disturbing here, which should be a warning to people of color reading this book.

Rin came to some realizations that, while I could see the inklings of from the beginning, were discovered in a way that felt really abrupt. That's how many of the epiphanies and climaxes read to me, too, especially Feylen's end. They feared so much yet there wasn't enough detail or action to make their conclusions feel satisfying.

Another complaint would be how Daji is a walking stereotype, an extremely common misogynistic one that applies to a lot of female villains.

It's also laughable how easily she's disposed of. That's an extension of an earlier criticism, that the resolutions of these conflicts are too easy and aren't satisfying at all.

I had a lot of expectations for this book and now I just want to get the last book over with honestly. I'm still curious as to how it will end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Colonisation, Cannibalism, Abortion, Xenophobia, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Religious bigotry

anacarol's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Racism

Moderate: Rape, Cannibalism, and Genocide