Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

633 reviews

yesenianais's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

henkelburns's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail

kelliaenne's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I wasn’t sure how I was feeling about this book at the start but I enjoyed where she took the story. Sometimes it feels like the Cike faded to throw away characters which is my only criticism, that more could be done there. Could be a reflection of Ron’s nature though all the same. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, War

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Colonisation

it feels like the deaths of all the Cike are either lazy writing or the characters just got fridged- it sort of falls flat, which is the biggest concern of mine with the book.

atthealcott's review against another edition

5.0

dark tense medium-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

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Fire and water looked so lovely together. It was a pity they destroyed each other by nature.

the cike dying???? nezha betraying her and literally stabbing her??? rin ending up back in the south as a powerful shaman??? the constant grief & pain this girl goes through is unreal…

in love with this series and i’m sure the last book won’t disappoint. i’m  terrified to see what happens next 😁

this story continues to be emotionally damaging. r.f. kuang, you will be getting a therapy bill in the mail very soon

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Self harm

Minor: Vomit, Abortion

bekah_hugs's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail

woahnellie's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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this book was amazing and definitely still a 5 star read for me, though i will say that i struggled with this book more than i did the first. my biggest struggle was with rin’s arc this book and her inconsistency. this was 100% purposeful on kuang’s part and a result of rin’s trauma and the high levels of stress she’s under though, and i really appreciate that it challenged and frustrated me. too often, i think fantasy authors can brush over the consequences of war, violence, and trauma. and, ultimately, rin is only 19/20!!! of course she’s not always going to make the best or most logical decision! all in all, i thought it was a great sequel that really succeeded in building on the events and themes in the first book, and showing the consequences of actions previously taken. excited to read the final book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Racism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War

Moderate: Rape, Torture, Kidnapping

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

daffodilreads's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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It took me forever to finish because the story is so heavy, so raw, and absolutely heartbreaking. Rin's grief was almost too much to handle, and her impulsiveness, aggression, and irrational decisions drove me insane. I wanted to scream at her for making all the wrong choices, but that's what made her journey so powerful.
The ending gave me chills and I was not expecting it. A brutal, eye-opening look at power, class differences, and the way the elite manipulate those below them. Rin's slow realization that the rich never intended to honor her humanity (because to them, she never had one) was devastatingly brilliant. If you're ready for a book that will wreck you this is it.

Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4
Relationships: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5
Spice: 0
World-building: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐4.75

Tardé una eternidad en terminarlo porque la historia fue muy intensa, muy cruda y absolutamente desgarradora El duelo de Rin fue casi imposible de soportar, y su impulsividad, agresividad y decisiones irracionales me volvieron loca. Quería gritarle por tomar todas las decisiones equivocadas, pero eso es justo lo que hizo que su viaje fuera tan significativo.
El final me puso la piel de gallina y no lo vi venir. Es una mirada brutal a la dinamica entre el poder y la humanidad, las diferencias de clase social y cómo la élite manipula a los que están debajo para su beneficio. La lenta realización de Rin de que los de arriba nunca tuvieron la intencón de respetar su humanidad (porque para ellos, ella nunca tuvo una) fue devastadoramente brillante. Si estas listo para un libro que te destroce, no busques más. 

Trama: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 
Personajes: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4
Relaciones: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 
Spice: 0
Construcción del mundo: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 
En general: ⭐⭐⭐⭐4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, War

lmszalay's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Rape, Blood, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation

anauribe's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Fuck. 


I already have book 3 ready to finish this fucking series off. I couldn’t wait!

I had some critiques of the first book in the series, the main one being how extremely complex and heavy it felt. So much blood, violence, war, and genocide. However, the way the story, friendships, and enemies developed in the second book have truly changed my opinion of this series. The second book truly drew you in for the ride, attaching to Rin and everything she does. I devoured the last half of the book like a delicious supper after a long day of work: joyfully and immediately. 

Nezha's betrayal hurt like a motherfucker. I genuinely could not believe it, along with Rin, that he quite LITERALLY backstabbed her.

Additionally, Kitay's and Rin's friendship growth was such a relief. It was hard to read how he wanted nothing to do with her after the first book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape

cornyylynn's review against another edition

5.0

dark sad tense

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War

Minor: Abortion