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Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, War
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Sexual violence, Blood, War
"She was no victim of destiny. She was the last Speerly, commander of the Cike, and a shaman who called the gods to do her bidding.
And she would call the gods to do such terrible things."
I'd grow myself white hair first than to stop commending kuang for the genius work she spelled out to her debut trilogy. it's not everyday we get to see an author's peak writing skills only to make a fool out of us, because plot twist! this was actually her warm up for her succeeding dark academia novel, the babel!
onto the book, i will never not shut up about the complex relationship depicted in this series! the subtlety of the brewing love story between the star-crossed lovers *winks winks* if you know, you know. the depiction of liability in ancient misery from a preceding bloodline and how the next generation are always doomed with the repercussions left to them, therefore forming a kinship constituted by trauma, which leads to the condemnation of one's humanity, at the worst possible case scenario. the reference to the tragic history of war amongst east asian countries. and just how contradictingly humane and fantastical the work is. it's like reading chinese history, but the colorful one's painted by the touch of folklores.
with complex relationships, comes a diverse list of characters. fang runin isn't written to be likeable, she's a morally grey heroine, and either readers understands her or loathes her, there's no in between. but for me, i enjoyed reading through her lenses, and grew fond of her. i realized how much rin's moral compass mirrors mine, except the hatred and phoenix part. altan reminded me of my first ever fling, and their relationship pulled me back to summer 2022 — reliving the toxic connection we had. i hated altan at first, but in years of retrospect and construing his character, i understood now why the way he was to rin just as much as i did with my summer fling. but that doesn't mean i tolerate altan's perverse encouragement of rin turning to corruption just because he was too scared to do the job on his own. but applaud to kuang for writing such character! jiang on the other hand was everything rin wasn't, and they clearly poralize each other way before she have thought of attending sinegard. they were bound to go against each other; jiang is the paragon of peacekeeper above all, but rin is the epitome of a turned anti-hero who lost faith on heroism. they we're evidently not going to end on the same side. as for kitay, he's one of the best character here, he grounds rin like no others; kitay is rin's last string of humanity.
also, chapter 21, i still cry buckets reading it, knowing it happened in real life.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Infertility, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Gaslighting
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Classism
Graphic: Death, War
Moderate: Child death, Genocide, Gore, Torture
Minor: Addiction, Rape
Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Rape, Torture, Murder, War
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Blood, Abortion, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
The world building is exquisitely done, it was so thorough and complete. You don't have to question why things are happening or how things got to where they are. R. F. Kuang did a fantastic job.
Rin is such a complex, strong and nuanced character. I could feel their pain, moral conflicts, fear and urge for justice as if I was Rin.
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, War
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Blood, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infertility, Rape