Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

La dea in fiamme by R.F. Kuang

261 reviews

eloisereading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I had a really hard time with this book, the last in the Poppy War trilogy. I loved the first, did not like the second, and was overwhelmed and exhausted by the third. Every time I put it down, it was harder to pick it up again. It’s rarely taken me so long to finish a book but I refused to give up. 

The good part was that Rin was powerful again, not whiny and miserable as she’d been in the second book. The battle scenes were gripping, and the strategy sessions were fascinating. But the periods in between battles felt like slogs. 

As a whole, the trilogy is incredible. It amazes me that the author wrote these books between ages 19-23. Her skill at research and writing is unparalleled. You feel the mud and the rain, you smell the filth of the army, you know that weariness and hunger. But after 1600 pages,  I, for one, didn’t want to be there. 

I hope Kuang keeps writing - she’s just astonishing. These last two books were just too difficult for me to experience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ladynocturnal's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

A book that is famed for having an unhinged, violent, and badass female character. This is what drew me to the series. Rin is not a good person. She is cruel, egotisical, and her anger controls nearly all her actions. She is in dire need of some more character development. She constantly makes foolish decisions that had me screaming at her since book one. I understand that her anger is a major flaw that sabotages her, but she never learns from her mistakes. I can recommend this book if you enjoy military and grimdark fantasy and can tolerate a stagnant main character. This book does not shy away from the horrors of war and how there are truly no "good guys" to be found. There are very poignant points on colonialism and the reality of war. Another flaw in R.F. Kuang's writing is that everything is spelled out for you. There were many times when lines, concepts, and major themes were drilled into your head out of fear that the reader might miss the point. This was hard to ignore. While I enjoyed this series I can't ignore the fact that this final book was a bit of a letdown.

The way the Trifecta was killed off was so anti-climatic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide and Kidnapping

Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry

mfrichter10's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

icy_queen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Slavery, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Infertility and Abortion

chasinggrace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ghost_rider's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

I feel unwell. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nithyuh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Crying

I feel like I saw some part of the ending coming, but not to this extent. 

R.F. Kuang’s writing and The Poppy War is forever ingrained in my brain. I’ll miss all these characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Gore, Racism, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation

Minor: Torture and Trafficking

hyithia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

• a very morally ambiguous main character that I loved/hated and I can't be mad at her for it
• overall interesting plot
• all characters had their complicated motives - no character seemed flat and all main characters developed well
• pacing was okay, but the ending felt very rushed compared to the rest of the book
• the parallel to colonization was clear and it made for a more emotional and intense narrative
• I loved the shamanism concept. I liked that the gods are to be feared, especially as a conduit, allowing them to inflict their will on the world
• I wish that we could have learned more about all 64 deities
• Disabled representation is present, which cannot be said of many books
• Rin raising an army of shamans makes a lot of sense for her character and the war - desperate times call for desperate measures
• Rin's manic episode at the end was a fascinating character arc. at first, she refused to bend the knee, then realized her mistake, sacrificing herself and Kitay to Nezha for the greater good of her people. I found this arc so captivating because it illustrated the war-inflicted paranoia on Rin, especially after accusing Venka of being a traitor (but who knows, maybe she was... I enjoyed Rin and Venka's comradery though, so I hope not...)
• wasn't too much of a fan of the dragon arc - it didn't make much sense to me why the dragon would attack the city rather than try to capture Nezha and Rin. I did like that the dragon was more powerful than the phoenix and that the dragon was unbeatable because I think that is "realistic".
• the torture that both Rin and Nezha endured by the Hesperians was disgusting but was analogous to how colonizers treated those whom they were colonizing. it is an important narrative to show. similarly, I found the mindset that the Hesperians had towards the Nikara revolting. again, however, the mindset that a certain race is inherently better than another is one that people have had and have used to justify irreparable harm to those groups that they have decided are somehow lesser than.
  I hope that those who read this series notice, appreciate, and internalize the historical parallels, as to me, the historical parallels are core to this series. R.F. Kuang has done something truly amazing with this series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Colonisation, and War

potion96's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism