Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

66 reviews

chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-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

4.0

I don't know where to begin. Kuang is an excellent writer and creator of characters. I fell in love with Chen Kitay and his bond with Rin was the most moving aspect of the story. Rin's ending felt fitting, inevitable, and unsettling. It feels so cruel that Nezha is the only surviving character out of the dozen or so we came to love. He was so well written, but I wish more was done with his character ultimately. The third installment felt so very rushed and frustrating at times. I'll be thinking about this for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Gore, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, War, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Pregnancy and Abortion

lovelymisanthrope'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

I read the first two books in The Poppy War trilogy last year, but I waited to pick up this conclusion purely because I did not want this series to end. As soon as I started this book, I could not put it down, and I was entirely blown away by this epic conclusion to a truly fantastic fantasy series.
"The Burning God" begins where "The Dragon Republic" left off: with Rin ready to do anything and everything in her power to win this war and protect the southern providences. She has overcome betrayal, hardship, death, and destruction, and she will not let the Dragon Republic be victorious. Will Rin be able to win the war without using the power of the phoenix to destroy the entire world in the process?
 

I am so glad I read this book, and I am even more glad I did some research afterwards, because going into this book I was not a huge fan of Rin. I felt like her character progressed really negatively throughout "The Dragon Republic" and I was disappointed to see her become what I felt was corrupted by power. I am sure that anyone would struggle with gaining such immense power as she did, but she really became so consumed with the need to win that she made unnecessary sacrifices. For example, at the beginning of "The Burning God" she decides to burn an entire temple down despite the fact that there were innocent hostages inside. She has lost her humanity throughout this process and sees the death of a few as acceptable because it is for the greater good. Rin really has a redemption arc in my mind with this final installment and I feel like she is finally able to see that she is not the leader everyone needs.
Upon finishing this novel I watched some discussions of this story on YouTube, and my eyes were completely opened to the fact that though this is a work of fiction, these conversations about war and colonization are rooted in history. More often than not generals and other higher ups in military forces are so great at what they do because they have a strategic war mind. They are able to be ruthless and lead a team to victory at any cost, which is great and important. However, this mindset and leadership is not what people need after the war ends. This mindset is too extreme and idealist to properly lead a country through recovery post war. The characteristics I did not enjoy about Rin execute this point perfectly, and I have a newfound love and appreciation for her character development because it sparks an important conversation about war leaders.
R.F. Kuang is an immensely talented author, and I am so glad I gave her books a chance. This story is thought-provoking, eloquently written with beautiful prose, and provides important insight into a side of war rarely talked about. 

 
I look forward to reading more from R.F. Kuang in the future because she has rapidly become a favorite author of mine! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, War, Drug use, Death, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Toxic relationship

being_stupid's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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: Drug abuse, Genocide, Rape, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Self harm, Blood, Cannibalism, Body horror, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, War, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Deportation, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Dementia and Forced institutionalization

tori_mccausland's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Suicide, War, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Self harm, Abortion, Rape, Sexual violence, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Gore, and Physical abuse

pearlbird's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Drug use, War, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Torture and Suicide attempt

Minor: Rape

natnat_7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Blood, Classism, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, War, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Slavery, Self harm, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

cemeterygay'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Cursing, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Violence, Alcoholism, War, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Grief, Rape, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

Additional CW: Colorism and Implication of incestuous feelings

readandfindout's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 4.5 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Grief, Sexual violence, Self harm, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Mental illness, Addiction, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Body horror, Genocide, Torture, Blood, War, Child death, Racism, Rape, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, Murder, Colonisation, and Xenophobia

saojimenez'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

5.0

this book had me sobbing FOR HOURSSS. it was literally so bad 😭 my heart was hurting during the entire book, but i loved it. it’s definitely my favorite out of the trilogy. and that ending???? it was honestly a perfect ending. r.f. kuang ATE. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Racism, Rape, Violence, Toxic relationship, and War

livreads16'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

4.5

This was a great series. The characters were great. Rin is a fucking masterpiece. The plot was amazing. The pace was good. 

I did not love the ending. I just really didn’t like how

bitch boy Nezha brought down the god that is Rin. It wasn’t fair. Like everyone fucking died??!? … I get it, it’s poetic: fire and water don’t mix, but like either have them end up together or have Rin kill Nezha. He deserved to die for stabbing her in the back (litterally). Also like then I have to read a chapter at the end from his POV about how much he loved her and how much it hurt him to destroy her like bitch?!? Then don’t do it ?!?! Wow if only there was an easy solution like ughhhh. Usually I’m a sucker for enemies to lover but this was not it.

this book really was amazing. Like my real only problem was the ending. Also I wanted more of the found family Cike thing. I absolutely loved that in the first book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Colonisation, Cannibalism, Death, Animal death, Sexual violence, Genocide, Xenophobia, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Grief, Drug use, Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, Racism, Torture, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Vomit, Violence, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Classism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Infertility