Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

60 reviews

ccpetrikas's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

I thought this was a good ending to the trilogy but not as strong as I was expecting. Still worth the listen but I was a little disappointed with the ending 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

middumullu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

still really enjoyed it but i think by this point i had gotten a bit tired of all of the same circles that have been happening over the past few books. still really enjoyed the characters

but i missed them all being together all the time,

and i felt like some of the newer characters were a lot less fleshed out. i think i liked the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Torture, Cannibalism, and Abandonment

Minor: Miscarriage and Abortion

again there was so much goin on in here that it is hard to remember in totality if something should be graphic/moderate/mild. for instance - there isn't as much medical content/trauma in this book as there were in others but it was mentioned several times and (to me) clearly informs character's actions (as do many of these tags). theres a scene where the characters visit a town that has been taken over by the west/Hesperians .

jennarussell's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

katiemcgregor'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

On one hand, I think this was a brilliant and satisfying conclusion to, what I imagine to be, an extremely difficult series to wrap up. On the other hand I think some of the pacing and character build up could have been taken a step further. This doesn't really hinder my overall enjoyment of The Burning God or the overall series, but there are just things I wanted more of. More madness, more development for minor characters, more drama to the fated confrontations that could only end in blood. But at the same time I think most of how things are handled is fitting for both the chaos of war and Rin's character. (view spoiler). I actually like the final ending of this book, but I think some of the things that are wrapped up in the middle may have felt a little anti-climactic (view spoiler)

What this book did really well is evoke intense emotions and instill an overall feeling of impending doom due to enemies that our main characters potentially can't even compete with. They're battling the colonization and "natural progression" of the world and it's hard to imagine that being a fight that can be won under these circumstances. Throughout the whole book it just doesn't feel like things can end well. No matter how many victories Rin achieves, the writing does a really good job of conveying her hollow feelings associated with them.

I think the other thing I maybe wanted a little more of was action between the original trio. It was obvious that everything was going to come down to them in the end, but The Dragon Republic was filled with more collaboration, fighting, and tension between them. Since they're all spread out, especially Nezha, throughout this book it just didn't lend itself to the type of interaction I would have loved more of.

All that being, said, I'm kind of nitpicking here because it's been a long time since I've been this invested in a series. This book really is very good and I understand why this has already become such a renowned trilogy. It is an experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cannibalism

urastrologygf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cannibalism

hanz's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

book_sense's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

 
I have zero sanity left after reading this.. this series. These characters. I have so much love for them. They are so real to me.. the ending. The fucking ending broke me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

fruitea's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

i rarely cry when reading books but. i’m sitting here at a quarter past midnight and i’m sobbing and i can’t even explain why. i’m emotional but i understand why things ended the way they did. it was depressing and so fucking sad i went on a rollercoaster of emotions but it’s like the rollercoaster broke down before it got to hope or happiness or even the smallest bit of relief. 

the depiction of war and conflict is brutally blunt, i said this in my review of the dragon emperor as well. some books tend to… romanticise war, turn it into some dramatic love story where the characters are invincible and benevolent and altruistic. but there’s none of that bullshit in this book, because war isn’t pretty or glorious, the people who suffer the most during wars are innocent civilians, who starve so the soldiers can have their rations, whose towns are pillaged, who are mercilessly killed by the enemy soldiers, even if they’re defenceless. the book constantly reminds you of this fact. you can’t forget it or ignore it like the big important political people who sit on their thrones waiting for the army to win the war for them. 

i think what i appreciate most about the trilogy is the brutally realistic portrayal of the people. not their abilities, but the way they live their lives, how they react to things. sure, we like to think that we’re good and kind, but realistically, if we were in a war zone, starving and desperate and afraid, we would be utterly selfish. we wouldn’t share resources with the other innocents, wouldn’t jump in front of a blade to protect a stranger. regardless of who wins, a lot of people would accept the victors because they’d do whatever they had to to survive. 

yes, it’s disheartening, more so because we see it from the perspective of someone who is on the frontlines and has seen first hand the cruelty of the enemy. these poor kids, i know they’re a couple of years older than me and aren’t really kids by the end, but… they’re so traumatised. they suffered throughout their entire lives. they’re so young. the things they’ve experienced have shattered their minds, but that’s the bitter truth of any war - no one emerges unscathed. 

anyway i went on a. tangent. my brain is scrambled with the emotions i am feeling and also the fact that it is now 24 minutes to 1 am so i will end it here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

isabellaft's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation

caregorman's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

UM SO IM NOT OKAY. Truly this series was just corruption v redemption v corruption again. Emotional turmoil being thrown into loving and hating every single character and there being no good outcomes. Also the amount of war and graphic scenes were mildly unbearable BUT shit got so wild I couldn’t stop. Objectively, really masterful world building and commentary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation