Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Опиумная война by R.F. Kuang

543 reviews

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I don't think I even have the intelligence to describe my feelings towards this book, or maybe I'm just spaced out. The main character is the type of person to have no angel on their shoulder with no guide to peace. Part 2 of the book was slow but slightly interesting, nonetheless. I never thought I fantasty would be my highest rated book of the year, but that's just a testament to R.F Kuangs' writing and storytelling abilities. 4.75 stars (maybe?! I don't fucking know anymore)

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Absolutely brilliant. R.F. Kuang is becoming my new favorite author. A dark, tense fantasy with complex characters, political themes and world-building that will leave you all over the place but still very intriguing as you read. Do check Triggers warning before reading but it’s definitely worth to look into this story. It’s rich atmosphere, high stakes and difficult journey that the characters face. Also, just a bonus in my opinion, FMC 🫶🏽
But definitely pick this up !! ⭐️

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adventurous challenging dark informative sad tense fast-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

This book put me off eating for a week

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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

A gritty, action-packed, and, at times, utterly hilarious read. This is how you write a strong female character.  

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark sad tense 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

wow, just wow. i absolutely love how rin is so deeply flawed throughout this entire book with her questionable morals in the beginning almost acting as foreshadowing to the atrocities that end up happening at the end. i refuse to believe that nezha is actually dead but also if he’s still alive then it’s kinda hilarious that run watched him “die” then “come back to life” twice now lolll. i feel so bad for kitay having to watch his best friend become a monster in his eyes and to something that doesn’t even resemble his old bestie :( to watch her spiral every time she felt she was betrayed by someone she cared about was so heartbreaking because it seemed from her perspective that all the men in her life just wanted to use her to do their bidding. i know it was a war and that obviously changes people but it was still disheartening to watch her continue a cycle of finding someone she cares about and idolizes only to be let down by them because they are not the perfect picture she makes them out to be in her mind. i hope in the next books she can maybe try to make connections that are not rooted in the fact that she needs someone to be a perfect model for her to follow blindly. 

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I had heard a lot about this book but didn't really know what it was about, so I went in blind. There is so much happening in this first book, it's so fast paced but you still get invested in the FMC. There are several male characters but so far they are more like window dressing mentors or adversaries. I could not put this down, if I wasn't reading it I was listening to it and making my husband listen to it too. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

Let’s start by stating the obvious: this book is dark. Its material is challenging and disturbing at some points. 

If you are looking for a lighthearted political fantasy THIS. IS. NOT. THE. BOOK. FOR. YOU. 

I seriously wish I had read more reviews that stated that because I didn’t know what this book entailed and was caught off guard. There should be content warnings printed on the first page. 


The pros: 
The Magic system established is truly unique - with shamans and martial arts and Lore. The characters are somewhat likable and unique, and I was interested in their motivations and their journey. I actually liked that Altan and Rin didn’t have a love story - there was a commander/soldier relationship,  an emotional connection between the last two Speerlies left after a genocide, and arguably a abusive friendship. I liked the enemies to friends with Nezha. 

The cons:
This book has complex themes. There’s racism, genocide, war, torture - you name it and it’s there - it’s graphic and disturbing af. Like seriously disturbing.  I get that there’s an argument for the readers needing to be disturbed by the books content to fully understand the characters motivations and that many of the  events that happened in this book can be referenced in actual history but there should be trigger warnings everywhere in that book. It’s challenging and dark. I don’t think what happened to Venka needed to be as graphic as it was.  The retelling of what happened to the pregnant woman? Sick. I went through all of the context warnings I would add for this book and there were at least 28 and you could argue for more. 

To be honest, I don’t think I will recommend this book to people because I wish I hadn’t read some of the scenes. I’m not sure I’ll even read the second book. 

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