Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Płonący bóg by R.F. Kuang

169 reviews

killjoycatlady's review against another edition

dark sad 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

This book is the culmination of  a heartwrenching tale of a country ravaged by war told through the eyes of a desperate young girl. It’s morally grey and there’s no true right or wrong. The author creates a rich and complex world and while the countries are analogs of real world cultures, it’s not cliched or stereotypical or even a 1:1 comparison. It is depicts nuanced perspectives of xenophobia, racism, and imperialism. The plot is full of political maneuvering and military strategy, and it’s extremely grounded, gritty, and realistic even when dealing with topics like ancient gods and magic. There are no real winners here. I’d recommend this book to anyone who can deal with its brutal violence.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Drug abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Sexual violence, Death, Racism, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Abandonment, and Suicidal thoughts

lattefairies's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Rape, Racism, War, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Addiction, Torture, and Sexual assault

raiynnn's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Animal death, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, War, Cursing, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Xenophobia, Body horror, Medical trauma, and Gun violence

ro_xox's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Racism, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Blood, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Violence, Death, Drug use, Self harm, and War

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Cannibalism

donatio's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I really don't know how to feel about it. Like, the style and everything absolutely matches the theme and it beautifies nothing. But still... Why the ending?! I don't think Kitay got the appreciation he deserved. On the other hand it's the only possibly "good" conclusion of the trilogy. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Racism, Abandonment, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Hate crime, Vomit, War, Death, Violence, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Racial slurs, Torture, Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Self harm

l0re11's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Gore, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Genocide, Drug use, War, Sexual harassment, and Fire/Fire injury

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! 

---

Content Warnings

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

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Animal death, Classism, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Racism, Rape, Vomit, War, Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Addiction, Cannibalism, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Torture