Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

188 reviews

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

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dark emotional reflective 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: Yes

It could be 100 pages shorter.

But as always, this book hits hard. It's unpredictable. It has many many layers you just don't expect. 

Rin experiences a complete shift in perspective on her 'mission' and I'm her for it in the next book.

Kuang's ideas are woven into our mc's thoughts on abortion, on religion, on politics and power... and agree or not, they induce you into reflection.

This is so much more than a fantasy book.

Don't dnf it just because it's slow through the first 30%.

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

And I thought the first book was dark đŸ« 

I admit I spent most of this book frustrated at Rin’s decisions and horrified at the consequences of her actions
but that was the whole point. Kuang throws a flawed, traumatized, furious teenager into a broken world and then sprinkles some mind-shattering magic into the mix—of course there will be hard choices and even more horrific outcomes. Rin is blinded by everything, especially her own rage, but every step she takes makes sense.

It takes an incredible author to be this true to a character, and I applaud Kuang while demanding that she pay my therapy bills for the next few years (at least).

Can’t wait to read The Burning God!

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

OOOOOOF. That was insane. My soul hurts. 

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A great continuation of the series. Writing was direct and didn't overly explain which helped the pace. This is about a war and like the first book it doesn't shy away from the realities of such a devastating time. It's brutal most of the time and RF Kuang did not hold back. We learn a little more of the lore and history Nikara and a little of the northern territory and the Westerners and their past and present. 

The story overall fell short from the firs part as it didn't have much development which kept it a repetitive cycle for most of the book. Lots of talking in circles about tbe same things that were spoken about without any type of change. It was more or less predictable (less a couple events) and because of that the stakes didn't feel as high as it should. The ending was the most predictable of all and I found myself just wanted it to end. 

It didn't ruin the story at all, there's still a lot of incredible and intricate details and battles and  political drama that so well done and still very much keeps you interested and wanting more.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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: Yes

When this book kicked off in our book club, I asked our group “On a scale of backyard campfire level to volcanic eruption 🌋, how much fire and wild do you predict for this next book? I am personally thinking the latter.” This was accurate! đŸ˜‚đŸ˜„

While The Poppy War took me a couple of weeks to finish, I struggled putting book two down and consumed all of its fury and destruction in just a few days!! I did enjoy The Poppy War, but had a couple dislikes with the pacing and how the ending all unfolded. However, I LOVED The Dragon Republic! I understand some may have thought the pacing of this one was a slower at first, but I appreciated Kuang’s expanse of the world and navigating more of Rin’s emotions and trauma in addition to her valid rage and drive for vengeance. Many characters in this series seem to make very questionable decisions in this book, but I actually was drawn in, trying to understand their intentions and motivations behind their actions throughout. It was also heartbreaking and frustrating seeing Rin being manipulated so much at this point in her young and difficult life đŸ„ș, but this was contrasted beautifully with Rin’s development of friendship along the way. The only suffering this book did not entail was suffering from second book syndrome. Kuang continued to hammer on the important themes of power and control, and delivered an unyielding and profound lens of war, grief,  and a brutal fight for survival. 

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I will always think about this book. It was so difficult in the BEST way! I gritted my teeth and beat up my pillow because how emotional it made me. 

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adventurous dark emotional 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: Yes

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