Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

47 reviews

winterwoodbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, War, Ableism, Cultural appropriation, Medical content, Pedophilia, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Classism, Excrement, Misogyny, Vomit, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Torture, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual violence, and Slavery

selenann's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A lot happened in this book. Gave me a totally new perspective of the presumed villain of the story. This may have been a little too political for me but still easy to follow. Absolutely loved the friendships built and strengthened (and then again weakened) in this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gore, War, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Self harm, Suicide, and Rape

emilyyyread's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, Addiction, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Sexual assault, Murder, and Torture

emmagrace's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, War, and Violence

Moderate: Colonisation, Genocide, Drug abuse, Racism, Drug use, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Rape, Self harm, Blood, and Addiction

Minor: Vomit, Suicide, Torture, and Slavery

m_rain's review against another edition

3.0

Loved the way this story progressed, but felt like this book didn't hold my attention as well as the first in the series. Everything moved very slowly, until the last 20 pages. This book was very

war focused which was likely why it was more difficult to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Blood, Self harm, Rape, Xenophobia, and Suicide

stitchof's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Abortion, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Child death, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gore, Hate crime, Medical content, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, War, Deadnaming, Death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, and Xenophobia

yuzu_149's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

The 2nd book doesn't disappoint! This was a really addictive read and I kept picking it up even the book is quite long. Like the first book though, the Dragon Republic still has a bit of issues with pacing, and I feel like it's more obvious here. I understand that she was building the world up with the necessary details, but the middle half took a while to get through. The first part where Rin struggled with the consequences of her actions from book 1 before she finally pulled herself together was also a bit tough to read. 

I still enjoyed the themes covered in this book a lot. The betrayals of various characters were beautifully written. Characterisation was done well here, and I liked how the friendships Rin had with her old classmates was explored more here. Kuang is ruthless when it comes to killing off our beloved characters though hahaha. 

If you're someone who enjoys intricate details about history, military strategy, naval battles, colonisation etc woven nicely into the storyline, you'll enjoy this a lot!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Blood, Sexual assault, War, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Colonisation, Grief, Murder, Racism, Drug use, Cursing, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Slavery, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

whenjessreads's review

4.0

After the DEVASTATION that was The Poppy War, I had been putting this book off in order to protect my little heart. But it was TIME.

The Dragon Republic was HEAVY. Not dark in the way that TPW was (if you recall, TPW was a reminder of some of the more horrendous war crimes committed in the Second Sino-Japanese War), but heavy in that it was a very geopolitical view  of the machinations of civil war.

I’m not entirely sure that this book fits into the fantasy genre. While the first book was very focused on shamanism and Gods and SPARKLE magical genocide SPARKLE, they took a back seat in The Dragon Republic, leaving the forefront for the war efforts - which were very much based on the movements of the Chinese Civil War of the 1940s. I would probably class this as historical fiction with a teensy bit of magic. For people who don’t enjoy historical fiction, this could be an issue. But maybe its a sneaky way for Kuang to teach us fantasy readers some things about our own world’s history 😂

I don’t read many war-based novels, but it presents an interesting dynamic when the main antagonist is absent through most of the book. This does tend to lessen the feeling of tension and lower the stakes a little, but… Kuang’s writing just does something to me. Would I usually be invested in a naval military fantasy with an absent antagonist? No. In fact, that’s why I stopped reading Game of Thrones. But the beauty of the writing in TDR kept me engaged.

I liked the portrayal of the MC. Rin is… not a good person (keep in mind she is Mao, in this version of Chinese history). She was a prideful, flawed and messy character (they all were!) and her experience of trauma and addiction is one that I thought was compelling and important.

However the MOST striking thing about this book was the representation of inequality, scientific/biological racism, and xenophobia. Every few pages I found myself inwardly cringing at the blatant reminder that throughout our world’s history, there have always been people who have been considered ‘other’, and ‘lesser’.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Abortion, Death, Gore, Addiction, Genocide, Misogyny, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Torture, Suicide, Xenophobia, Rape, Grief, Animal death, Drug use, Self harm, War, Colonisation, Body horror, Violence, Murder, and Racism

thebookishlibra_'s review against another edition

dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, War, Addiction, Torture, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

natfig's review against another edition

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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Suicide, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Death, Confinement, Blood, Sexual harassment, Genocide, Drug use, Drug abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Cursing, Classism, Addiction, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Murder, Sexism, Emotional abuse, War, Violence, Alcohol, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Excrement

Minor: Gun violence, Cannibalism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Vomit, Slavery, Sexism, Miscarriage, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, and Abandonment