Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Опиумная война by R.F. Kuang

2258 reviews

jenpaorob's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, War

Moderate: Addiction

woahnellie's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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finished this book and stared at the wall for a long time after. what an incredibly heart-breaking story, and one that feels achingly relevant to current events happening in the world. the final 150 or so pages were absolutely devastating and so hard to read at times, but i also couldn’t put it down. just… what an amazing book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Genocide, Violence, Murder, War

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

ialoneblue's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

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This was definitely not what I was expecting and that's not a bad thing. The story is much more serious and it makes sense for it be because and it's war and human nature. RFK did not shy away from the harsh realities of war and life growing up and around brutal conflicts. It mixes military/war and fantasy/mythology really well. The characters are of a wide variety and Rin is such a great main character. Far from perfect and a prime example of someone navigating through a tough life and faces situation and makes decisions that aren't just black and white. World building is amazing and really well done. And the pace of story was very consistent. There's a lot of history and lore that you're presented with and some is repeated a few times which work to it's advantage to help the read grasp the world better. 

There were some predictable moments and outcome especially during the academy training which I think is due to the structure of a setting like that. That's not saying there weren't any surprises either. 
Some of the development felt like it took the long way to get there especially with Rin character development and at times her development did feel somewhat sluggish. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and even though it was slightly different from what I expected, it truly is epic.  Does not hold back on anything. It has a lot of elements that it mixes well. It builds and crushes you and throws you into the next right after. Great world, history and lore and of course, great writing. 

(Do check content warnings)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Violence, War

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Body horror, Misogyny, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Medical trauma

shamaramill's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

jacqsfaerietales's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Rape, Murder

morgybritt's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, War

chloeshade1's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I love how this book is written and it gripped me from the first page. However, I will say that there is  MASSIVE shift in the book after part 1 that caught me off guard. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation

mclairemcc's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, War

avelavalamp's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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This was not the right fantasy book for me. I wish I’d read the content warnings first. I never skip pages, but I needed to multiple times due to graphic descriptions of really sensitive subjects. Maybe if the genocide in Gaza and Sudan and Congo weren’t top of mind, and maybe if I didn’t have tender personal history with losing a loved one to heroin abuse—maybe then I could’ve stomached the drawn-out descriptions of rape and killing babies, too. But all that added to the fact that I didn’t feel connected to a single character and  most of the main characters are fueled by rage and hate? A total miss for me. Giving it a 2 because the writing was decent overall, and Kuang didn’t recycle many sloppy, hackneyed phrases. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Rape, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Addiction, Hate crime, Racism, Blood, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury

This was not the right fantasy book for me. I’d wrongly assumed the poppy drug use would be abstracted. I was not prepared for detailed and gruesome depictions of mass killings/genocide, medical torture, forced heroin use, brutalization of corpses, killing of babies.

romeo's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I don't know what to say, I am speechless. I did not expect it to end like this because I don't know what I was expecting. The book always kept me guessing and surprised

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Sexual harassment, War

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War