Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

48 reviews

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

3.75

So the second book was battle after battle after battle. I really enjoyed the comedic relief parts between friends and I kind of wish this book had more of that. It seemed like this book was full throttle without a break. I would have gladly had less battle scenes for more friendship building. I honestly might feel more connected to the characters. 

However, she does have me still intrigued on how this war ends. I am glad this ended with Rin with some backbone. She got a little annoying to me throughout most of this book. But I totally get character development. 

I am looking forward to reading the last one! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug abuse, Animal death, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Classism, Abandonment, Colonisation, Genocide, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Death, Mental illness, Addiction, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, War, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Gaslighting, Murder, Body horror, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Rape, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

bookishedi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Self harm

Moderate: Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Misogyny, Rape, Physical abuse, Abortion, Slavery, and Miscarriage

Minor: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

johnathanwet's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I have so much praise for this book but I just finished it and cannot get my thoughts in order yet.

Absolutely phenomenal read. Don’t think I’ve ever read a book that was just so difficult to get through, the brutality is next level.

For later:
- historical context
- bodily autonomy 
- substance abuse 
- reality of war 

I will come back once I’ve finished reeling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Rape, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Child death, Death, Grief, Religious bigotry, Classism, Colonisation, Pregnancy, and Gore

nataaaliya's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

If it were possible, I'd get every word of this trilogy inked into my skin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Gore, Death, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Murder, Abandonment, Ableism, Body horror, Grief, Racial slurs, Drug use, Violence, Sexual assault, Racism, Body shaming, Blood, Genocide, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, War, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Child death, Sexism, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Dementia, Pregnancy, Abortion, Toxic friendship, Infertility, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death of parent, Self harm, Trafficking, Cannibalism, and Domestic abuse

ilovebarbie12dancingprincesses's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Misogyny, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Racism, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Drug use, Genocide, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Blood, Torture, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Drug abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Suicide, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

min_grachi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Addiction, Body horror, Abandonment, Drug use, Murder, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Sexism, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Genocide, Slavery, Violence, War, and Racism

danaslitlist's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

"She'd seen the resentment on the faces of her people. The glare in their eyes when they dared to look up. They were not a people grasping for power. Their rebellion would not fracture over stupid personal ambitions. They were a  people who refused to be killed and that made them dangerous."

The Dragon Republic is a book that had the incredibly difficult job of coming after The Poppy Wars, which is (in my humble opinion) one of the best "first books" in a trilogy from the way the world building and politics is set up to the characterization and plot. That means that TDR was in the tricky situation of not only needing to hold my attention like The Poppy Wars, but also had to carry on from the emotional devastation that we ended with in book one. Maybe, just maybe that's why I was hesitant to pick up The Dragon Republic and why it's sat on my shelf for half a year (well that, and I was terrified of RF Kuang's ability to emotionally devastate me).

Regardless, I'm extremely happy to report that The Dragon Republic not only held up against book one, it met the challenge of being BETTER. It was an agonizing and frustrating read that had me getting up to pace angrily around my room while sending various voice memos and rants to a dear friend. And it took me twelve days of solid reading in order to finish reading because of this. And, I would've have had it any other way. The frustration with Rin and company was so GOOD it was BAD and then good again. I couldn't fault the characters because it all made sense within the book. Every time a character makes a bad decision it is in line with who they are and you can't really be upset about that. 

More than anything I truly believe that RF Kuang is incredibly talented in the way she writes about war and conflict. There are so many times throughout The Dragon Republic where she purposefully places seeds of doubt and unease about which side is truly the "heroes" regarding a civil war. Especially in discussion of class, race, religions and political power we see an exploration of the beneficiaries of war. 

I mentioned this in another review for a book I read within the last two months where I said that every book I pick up lately has me thinking back to Palestine and how reading is always a political statement. This is even more true when it comes to books that center rebellion and revolution. I was not able to separate the events in The Dragon Republic from what is currently going on in Palestine (as well as in the Sudan and the Congo). The use of political instability and war in order to ascend to power, the class and political power division, the colonization and degradation of marginalized people due to their race and religion. 

I can't wait to start Burning Gods and feel even more emotionally raw and destroyed. Thanks RF Kuang. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Addiction, Murder, Gaslighting, Rape, Emotional abuse, War, and Drug abuse

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Self harm

broccoli_j's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Grief, Death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Child abuse, Addiction, Gore, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Rape, Torture, Sexual content, Murder, Death of parent, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

kaylaswhitmore's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

Coming straight out of the first book and into this one was very interesting. After the first book’s rather awe-inducing end (

Rin’s use of the Phoenix to completely level an entire curry

) I already anticipated that Kuang would have to find a way to “nerf” Rin in the second book. After all, if it was all just easy wins, nothing would feel very climactic, would it? So, with that in mind, it’s safe to say that the first half of this book was exceedingly frustrating. I don’t mean that in a negative way, but rather, that Kuang found the bruise that conjoined both Rin and the reader and she pushed down, hard. It thoroughly sucked for awhile there, especially considering my standing-critique of Kuang’s writing style that she tends to sum up Rin’s various relationships with a handful of informative scenes but too little transition in-between (imho). This occasionally made those relationships and characters feel a little flat in comparison to the rich intimacy we have within Rin’s character and arc. However, I think that particular flaw took a hard turn for the better around 2/3 through the book (

Rin and Kitay’s bond

). After that point, the emotions, stakes, and overall well-roundedness of every character beside Rin felt much more vivid than before, and Kuang even delved a little deeper in adding casual exchanges here and there that really enriched the dynamics. By the end, I truly felt immersed in this world and found myself longing for exactly what Rin herself is headed towards: purpose. I’m going right into the third and final book now, and hope this journey finds a satisfying end!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Violence, Death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Blood, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Genocide, Gore, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Racism, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Grief, Self harm, Abortion, Alcohol, Cursing, Ableism, Animal death, Gaslighting, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Cannibalism

As with the first book, please check trigger/content warnings before reading.

There is an incident involving a woman being r*ped in the second half of the book that is moderately graphic and could definitely be triggering for some.

brainrot_197's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Racism, Medical content, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Drug use, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Colonisation, Grief, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, and Drug abuse