Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Płonący bóg by R.F. Kuang

173 reviews

lolaslalaland's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

2.0

 The final installment in the Poppy War Trilogy. A young girl fighting a war on multiple fronts: civil, foreign, mental, spiritual and physical. 

Pros: 
✅ historical parallels 
✅ impactful themes of war and the crimes and brutality that follow it 
✅ strong atmosphere of pain and suffering across an entire nation 

Cons: 
❌ very little character development. they mainly felt like chess pieces moved around or added to progress the war 
❌ massive pacing issues... no down time! it's just war, war, war, war. no time to build any kind of connections 
❌ magical elements were virutally useless and lead to nothing SPOILER:

So much hype for the Triad just for them to all get defeaeted at the top of a mountain byt eh same army their thought they could defeat with just the three of them... so incredibly disappointed and what a waste of time throughout the entire trilogy.

 
❌ a well written unlikeable character but who is incredibly infuriating in her stupidity! She somehow always ends up in the same situation over and over and over again... I needed something new to happen at least once. 

What I want to end this review with is that I am glad I read the trilogy because the themes it brings up are important and to have them in a "fantasy" setting lets the author explore them more deeply and with less limitations, but I also think this trilogy tried to do too much theme building and not enough story and character development. Perhaps R.F. Kuang is not the author for me. I will still read her standalone Babel though and find out! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

lanid's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Addiction, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, and Alcohol

alexiab's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-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

4.0

PHEW what an amazing trilogy. The character work in all three books is so unique and so well done, and this gruesome story of the darkness of humanity and revenge is masterful. 

I struggled getting into this book because after the end of book two, there was so much missing from the story that had me so invested for two whole novels. While the entire overarching story makes sense, and Rin’s journey is well thought out, I initially had a hard time investing myself in this book because of what was missing compared to the other two. Which is why it felt like such a slog to push through reading this one. It’s genuinely good writing, I just felt like I lost a lot of emotional connection personally with the story.

Overall this is incredible storytelling. I’m so excited to see what else this author can do if THIS is her debut series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

sunsetcity's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

shivapriya's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

</My favorite moment in the book would be when Rin shows Petra the Pantheon>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and War

Moderate: Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation

Minor: Addiction

being_stupid's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Dementia

moooooshell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Torture, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, and Colonisation

arisaenz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

I tend to be able to finish a book of this length within 2 days... this one took me a little over a month. This book (really this series) demands your attention and emotions and everything you have to give to it. Every second I was not reading this book I was thinking about it and the things it was telling me to look at and observe in the world. So many POC have such a similar story for their country and this makes you not only feel incredibly seen and understood but makes you take a good hard look at how the things that happened to your country left such long lasting scars in you and your family and how you responded. This isn't a book/series for just anyone. It is a very difficult read emotionally and mentally. I took breaks because it would begin to feel so overwhelming, but man was it worth every second. Rin is not easy to love but man so I hold her so close to my heart. I will for sure be going back for a more in depth reread at some point. For not I still feel the weight of this book on my chest and will probably be constantly thinking back to it's themes over the next few months.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and War

Moderate: Drug use and Gaslighting

Minor: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

fynnnnnn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Abortion, Abandonment, and Alcohol

natnat_7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Slavery, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Miscarriage and Abortion