Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

72 reviews

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

tinybluepixel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Animal death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship

thebookworm777's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I was a touch disappointed with the third installment in this trilogy. The book, like its predecessors, is divided into parts and each part I feel obligated to give its own rating because they were all so different. The first part immediately draws you back into the story and introduces new, interesting political dimensions to the trilogy. It felt a bit flat though in the department of character development and for this reason I would have to give it 4 stars. Part two, to me, is where the story really sags. Rin shows zero character development her, the Trifecta feels flat, and the callousness Rin displays towards her old master made her highly unlikeable to me. The overall driving plot of this section, felt to me, like pointless fluff with the same end objectives having the potential to be achieved in a more concise and logical manner. I almost abandoned the book while in this part and would have to give it 3 stars. The third part is the most exciting part where we see some original character growth for the first time since the second book. Except for the very end, I was once again in love with Kuang's writing. This section I would give a 4.5 Therefore, my overall score for the book is based on the average of these three. 

Overall, I felt this concluding installment failed to deliver in terms of character development and a satisfying ending.

It was obvious from the beginning of this book that Rin would die at the end. As I read, I felt as if I was simply waiting for her to finally die. Despite knowing this, I was disappointed with her death due to how poorly it was executed. Additionally, the climax of the book, the final showdown in Arlong, was so boring and quick I was shocked it was over.

Overall, the action of this book lacked the pizzaz present in the first two books. This, coupled with the stagnant characters, left me feeling like this book failed to neatly conclude the triology which is a shame since the first two are so strong. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, War, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

alexpaperandpages's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This book… this series emotionally wrecked me. I was worried it wouldn’t live up to the hype. I had heard that this book wasn’t as good as the others in the series but this book was still amazing. I’m reeling from the shock of the ending. I finally got the character development from Rin that I was looking for and now it’s over.

This is the second book series that has ever given me a book hangover. 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Rape, Genocide, War, Xenophobia, Suicide, Pedophilia, Murder, Death, Colonisation, Child abuse, Vomit, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Violence, Torture, Religious bigotry, Racism, Drug use, Child death, Addiction, and Abandonment

gumiho0712's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Blood, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, and Drug use

opossumom's review against another edition

dark slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, War, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Vomit, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Genocide, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

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

cammiem8's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-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

WOW. I’ve never had such an immersive reading experience as this series or felt such investment in a fantasy setting. A very believable descent into the corruption of power in the protagonist turned villain, and a completely heartbreaking, unexpected romance that never was and never could be. Fantastic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Death, Toxic friendship, War, Genocide, Gore, and Sexual assault

EXTREMELY dark, bleak, and gory.

navayiota's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

What a fucking rollercoaster. My god.. the betrayals, the slow descent into madness, the unreliable narrator... perfect. Just, wow. This is exactly how I wanted this to end. A giant crash and burn, everything going so wrong yet so right, everyone going back exactly to where they started out, but with everyone more hurt and traumatised that before. It hurts to read, but you can't stop cause it's just so good. You can't look away from the carcrash. What a fantastic finale. My heart couldn't bear it. I feel so bad for all the characters who deserve better, but didn't get it cause Rin was too blindsighted by her rage, cause of the flaws in the system, cause people are hellbent on hurting each other, cause, cause, cause. How fucking amazing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Racism, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Suicide, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, War, and Addiction

Moderate: Death of parent and Confinement