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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
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
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
“Oh, but history moved in such vicious circles.”
Ughhhhhhhh I fear I will never move on from this book or this trilogy 😭
I’ve already written so much about all of the themes and allusions that make this trilogy so hard hitting. I could go on forever about the rage against empire and colonialism but I’ll turn instead to just the sheer power of this narrative.
Rin is such a maelstrom of trauma, pain, grief, and vicious rage I just found her such a captivating FMC. Kuang has so brilliantly written this in a way that as a reader you are dragged through atrocities and heartbreaks and injustices so terrible that you almost turn vengeful yourself. You want to see the perpetrators punished, you want the bloodshed. But then, as the master of emotional whiplash Kuang then drags you back and you see the madness Rin is drowning in, the power that is corrupting her pain into a lethal and unrestrained force.
I love that until the last pages you still don’t have an answer of who is good or bad, who is right or wrong. It drives home with painful clarity the endless cycle of violence we see in our world, and how even those who want to end the cycle are liable to continue it.
Rin, I will never forget you.
Kitay, you deserved a life in a library, not in war camps.
Nezha, I will never stop wondering.
This trilogy hurt me so much, 10/10 no notes.
“The point of revenge wasn’t to heal. The point was that the exhilaration, however temporary, drowned out the hurt.”
“You don't fix hurts by pretending they never happened. You treat them like infected wounds. You dig deep with a burning knife and gouge out the rotten flesh and then, maybe, you have a chance to heal.”
Ughhhhhhhh I fear I will never move on from this book or this trilogy 😭
I’ve already written so much about all of the themes and allusions that make this trilogy so hard hitting. I could go on forever about the rage against empire and colonialism but I’ll turn instead to just the sheer power of this narrative.
Rin is such a maelstrom of trauma, pain, grief, and vicious rage I just found her such a captivating FMC. Kuang has so brilliantly written this in a way that as a reader you are dragged through atrocities and heartbreaks and injustices so terrible that you almost turn vengeful yourself. You want to see the perpetrators punished, you want the bloodshed. But then, as the master of emotional whiplash Kuang then drags you back and you see the madness Rin is drowning in, the power that is corrupting her pain into a lethal and unrestrained force.
I love that until the last pages you still don’t have an answer of who is good or bad, who is right or wrong. It drives home with painful clarity the endless cycle of violence we see in our world, and how even those who want to end the cycle are liable to continue it.
Rin, I will never forget you.
Kitay, you deserved a life in a library, not in war camps.
Nezha, I will never stop wondering.
This trilogy hurt me so much, 10/10 no notes.
“The point of revenge wasn’t to heal. The point was that the exhilaration, however temporary, drowned out the hurt.”
“You don't fix hurts by pretending they never happened. You treat them like infected wounds. You dig deep with a burning knife and gouge out the rotten flesh and then, maybe, you have a chance to heal.”
Okay so that was insane?! The last 40 pages are actually among the greatest I've ever read and I simply may never stop thinking about it.
I do feel like some parts of this book were perhaps longer than they needed to be, but then again I don't think the conclusion would have had the same emotional impact without the depth that was explored in the rest of the book/s. And really who am I to question RF Kuang's genius?!
I do feel like some parts of this book were perhaps longer than they needed to be, but then again I don't think the conclusion would have had the same emotional impact without the depth that was explored in the rest of the book/s. And really who am I to question RF Kuang's genius?!
Trochę jestem zaskoczona, bo spodziewałam się, że finał serii to będzie pięć gwiazdek bez żadnych zastrzeżeń, a jednak ten tom ostatecznie ocenie najniżej z całej trylogii. To wciąż bardzo dobra książka, żeby nie było. Jednak po skończeniu lektury pozostałam z myślą, że czegoś mi tu zabrakło.
Mam takie poczucie, że całe to konsekwentnie budowane napięcie w poprzednich tomach tutaj jakoś opadło. Cały ten brutalizm, dramatyzm, szkokujące zwroty akcji, jakoś tutaj nie wybrzmiały aż tak jak powinny, a ja nie jestem w stanie stwierdzić czemu.
Nie wiem, może to wynik tego, że do tych wszystkich zabiegów zdążyłam się już przyzwyczaić i dlatego w ostatnim tomie już mnie to tak nie uderzyło. A szkoda, bo tak jak wspomniałam na początku, liczyłam, że będzie to, w moich oczach, najlepsza pozycja z tej trylogii.
Mam takie poczucie, że całe to konsekwentnie budowane napięcie w poprzednich tomach tutaj jakoś opadło. Cały ten brutalizm, dramatyzm, szkokujące zwroty akcji, jakoś tutaj nie wybrzmiały aż tak jak powinny, a ja nie jestem w stanie stwierdzić czemu.
Nie wiem, może to wynik tego, że do tych wszystkich zabiegów zdążyłam się już przyzwyczaić i dlatego w ostatnim tomie już mnie to tak nie uderzyło. A szkoda, bo tak jak wspomniałam na początku, liczyłam, że będzie to, w moich oczach, najlepsza pozycja z tej trylogii.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
The violence of war is brutal, but the true devastation lies in the famine, misery, and hopelessness it leaves behind. Rin may excel at waging battles, but—like Mao—she proves to be utterly incapable of leading in the aftermath. Watching her descent was painful, inevitable, and tragically fitting.
I understand why the story had to end this way, but that doesn’t make it any less haunting. A grim, unflinching conclusion to a devastating trilogy.
I understand why the story had to end this way, but that doesn’t make it any less haunting. A grim, unflinching conclusion to a devastating trilogy.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced