Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

40 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

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

moooooshell'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Murder, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, War, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Racism

starrysteph's review against another edition

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

A breathtaking end to the series. I felt every loss in my bones. A brutal depiction of war with a deeply compelling set of characters. 

"I am the force of creation. I am the end and the beginning. The world is a painting and I hold the brush. I
am a god.”

R.F. Kuang is SO gifted.

This whole series is incredibly dark; please check content warnings.

CW: murder, death (including child death), blood, violence, war, genocide, drug use, fire, animal death, animal cruelty, colonisation, addiction, body horror, cannibalism, grief, racism, rape, religious bigotry, vomit, confinement, alcohol, suicide

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Content Warnings

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

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

saraohneb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Cursing, Deadnaming, Torture, and War

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Alcoholism, Cannibalism, and Racism

meoliver95's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Drug use, Drug abuse, Rape, War, Suicide, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Genocide, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual violence, and Miscarriage

Minor: Cannibalism

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

Moderate: Cannibalism, Torture, Ableism, and Abandonment

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

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 .

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

holy shit im so emotionally spent. like its predecessors, the burning god was quite a ride, one that elicited very strong reactions--the whole range of the emotional spectrum--from me, but the last 2 chapters and epilogue...tbh im still reeling from those. whats more incredible is that while my prediction of the ending was wayyy off the mark, the series conclusion seemed inevitable in hindsight, and im a lil astonished at how it was the perfect balance of satisfying and dizzying possibilities. but i digress...

honestly this book had too many logical lapses for my liking, hence the not-5 stars. they werent anything major but were still perplexing. for instance, why did rin have to go up mt. tianshan, considering riga's hatred for speerlies and the fact that it wasnt imperative for her to be there at all; daji and jiang couldve managed it just fine w/o her? the price of calling the gods also seemed greatly diminished compared to book 1; there wasnt rly any consequences in the form of resulting events, the stakes werent high save for insanity. the full reveal of the trifecta's shady history was predictable as well, and fell a lil flat for me. also, considering rin and kitay were bonded, why didnt the latter have any inkling on the former's decision in ch.33?

my other main misgiving is the fact that i feel like rin couldve utilized the countryside population more. their huge numbers were emphasized, yet the size of rin's southern army and conquests felt so small, and the army actually struggled w/ their small numbers throughout the book. the "throwing bodies at her enemies" preluded in book 2 didnt happen either. and the book would've benefited more from depicting how the southern civilians truly supported rin.

it's a testament to kuang, her story, and her storytelling, therefore, that the book still got nearly perfect stars. burning god was intense, brutal, and adeptly wrestled w/ thought-provoking themes of power, war, history, cycles of violence, and colonization (once again, yts rly ain shit but wbk). despite the overwhelming deaths present, they never felt gratuitous and were instead a powerful, realistic depiction of the destructive impact of war and the impossible choices it wielded. another thing i loved was the complexity and...sheer messiness of feelings and ppl: the rin-kitay-nezha trio was a perfect example of this (and rin & kitay...i shed a tear fck def my most fav m/f friendship ever).

sth i feel this book did best from all the fiction ive read is creating and exploring morally grey things, both in its characters and ideas. u couldnt completely hate anyone + everything had both pros and cons. it made us question: who's right or wrong? is anything or anyone completely evil or good? there were no easy answers here and kuang challenged her readers to ponder, and even to question not only history but also the present. all in all, this was a satisfying conclusion to one of the best (and def the most bl**d-soaked) series ive ever read. what a fcking ride.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Death, Violence, War, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Genocide, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Child death, Blood, Forced institutionalization, and Torture