Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

La dea in fiamme by R.F. Kuang

252 reviews

drjoannehill's review against another edition

dark sad slow-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

4.0

Can I read something else now please?

I powered through The Dragon Republic and The Burning God in 2 weeks for Close Encounters Book Club. It should have been on Thursday but was pushed back to next Wednesday... and I needed it, because this one was a slog in the middle and my reading pace dropped.

Like Rin herself, this book is relentless and single-minded in burning through the country in civil war. Yet it remains focused only on Rin - she is the only person who matters to herself and to the story arc. Anyone else can die or just disappear out of the story, and it's Oh well, carry on burning it all down. There's nothing else for her to do. It's desperate and hopeless. I did not enjoy it as much as The Dragon Republic, but this is not really a story to enjoy - it's about how revenge and anger keep going until: Now what? What is left afterwards? 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, and Grief

instalovewithbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

What the actual fuck was this? Kuang. What did you do???? 

I didn't expect the ending. I'm so upset. I'm so mad. I get it, I truly do.

like she had to die there was no other way for Nikan to survive because of her fuck sakes

Fuck. Fuckily fuck. Kitay. Venka. Nezha. Rin.

I am not going to even bother with a proper review.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

elizabeth_helmer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

meggspence's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

This was my first adult fantasy series that I've read in years and man I ate it up. Once I was 150 pages from the end I plopped on a couch and finished it in a sitting. This trilogy taught me so much about the history of China from WW2 - Cultural revolution and British colonization. 

I loved Nezha and Kitay, and as complicated as Rin was, I still loved following this story through her perspective. I will also say (spoiler free) the ending somehow brought me an unexpected relief despite such a disastrous situation. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism

See other people's TW!!

jackjcaseyv's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and War

melitrophium's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Cannibalism, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Incest, and Self harm

sierraclimbs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.0

I don’t even know what to say about this book… this entire story is so sad & challenging… I’m glad that I read it. But I’m not coming away from it wanting to recommend it to people. 
Rin is such a frustrating protagonist to follow… she makes very human mistakes & I think as a reader you are not always used to your protagonist making mistake after mistake. It makes the story feel very real & raw. But I’m also upset & frustrated. 

I so badly wanted these characters to have a happy ending… and I’m sure many people would interpret that they did… just after so much suffering, all I wanted was for Rin & Nezha to come back to each other in peace & love even if it was platonic… but it wouldn’t be realistic… a girl can hope though!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Racism, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, and Murder

vibingandy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

i will never recover - the way their relationships culminated in the conclusion of the book was both incredibly beautiful and incredibly devastating …. no joy but it was life changing

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Genocide, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

atlaslan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

Woah, I really cannot say a thing else. Woah. I've never read a trilogy so strong. I know this trilogy will stick with me for a long time. I jsut finished it so I can't say much more than I'm in awe. R. F. Kuang will never fail to amaze me. It definetly had its slow points but kept me intrigued throughout the book. Rin is such a deliciously complex character morally black in reality but so interesting to read about. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Excrement, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is without a doubt the best book in the series. R.F. Kuang finally found the perfect balance between the battles and character dynamics between each other. The pacing in this one was extremely well done. Compared to the last book this one seemed to read so much easier. This book had highs and lows and it wasn’t just extreme intensity on every page. Don’t get me wrong final book definitely had it a twists and turns, but it just felt way more settled. 

What an amazing ride! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism