Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

18 reviews

lollyr's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

The weakest book in a fantastic series. Still a great book with great strong characters and interesting world.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, Colonisation, and War

ccpetrikas's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

I thought this was a good ending to the trilogy but not as strong as I was expecting. Still worth the listen but I was a little disappointed with the ending 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kirbylover16's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

The story starts strongly in part one, flops in part two, and is salvaged but rushes in part three. I love that women are at the forefront of this series and the focus on the East. All of it is super refreshing. The narrator in the audiobook is great. Rin's speech about ignorance and slavery was exemplary. But her continued growth from a naive child to a war commander feels unfinished. She never gets over the loss of her arm or Alton. It's only because of others that Rin lives (Jiang/Kitay/Souji/etc.)

If she had practiced with her arm as Kitay told her over and over when they were traveling the entire book, she could have won the sword fight against the weakened dragon emperor. She could have confronted Jiang and Daji about how they let Riga bully them and about not learning their lesson. Tell Jiang he can't forget Hanelai or what he's done but, he could do something now. Then go into a fight against the airships. Then have the Trifecta die. Instead, Jiang must save her again. They never fought anyone as the whole Trifecta and, Riga's only there for one scene." in one blow, she rid herself of the Trifecta ... two of the greatest forces the empire had ever seen, gone" Rin wasn't even the one to kill them. How anti-climactic! Then part three starts with another flashback and talks about silicones in the shadows like maybe they're not dead after all? I kept hoping they would show up, but no, they're gone. I thought Jiang's mental fight was one of the better subplots and the theory of him being Rin's father interesting, so his death was even more disappointing.

She squandered the Trifecta, especially Riga. It feels like the whole book was pointless or, the subplots overtook the main plot. The inconsistencies/plot holes/pacing makes this an annoying read that drags.

Why is Alton in this book at all! With everyone who died in these books, Rin never shows any emotion besides Alton and maybe Kitay. Which really shouldn't count. Kitay isn't even his person in this book as he's just her Horcrux.

half of the book Kitay isn't even with Rin. Nezha had him but, that doesn't make sense. Kitay refused to work for him, and they didn't know Kitay was her anchor, so why did they keep him alive? They knew Kitay was clever and would betray them.

Her blood family? her adopted family, the fate of the Speerly or the Cike? Nope, she doesn't care. 
What was Nezha doing? His motives make no sense and, Rin's motives keep switching. I shouldn't need to read a different book to understand the main character's motives. None of the relationships are healthy or wholesome. In general, there are too many characters to keep track of and, it feels like this book could have cut down and got to the point a lot faster. Why didn't she start teaching shamans at the beginning instead of at the very end? You can't introduce new characters so late in the story that only makes the ending feel even more rushed. Overall this was disappointing and, I don't understand how anyone can say this is five stars. 
Poppy War 5/5  
The Dragon Republic 3.75/5 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Sexual harassment

hayleyvem's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Blood, and Colonisation

Minor: Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, and Abortion

some_random_person_hi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Sexual violence, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Toxic relationship

violaceae'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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Outing

ireadinbed's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I don't know if I have ever been filled with such a mix of love and hate for the ending of a series. 

It's simply awful. But it cuts to the heart of things. 

I honestly would rate this particular book in the series a 5 if it wasn't for the fact that I think the relationship between Rin and Nezha needed more exploration. She's such an unreliable narrator that I honestly felt like they barely knew each other and even with the end of the last book I found their opposition frustrating to try and understand. 

But there's so much else. It can't be perfect but it's got an amazing arc. Easily the best of the trilogy. In every aspect. Absolutely amazing journey. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Stalking

Minor: Chronic illness, Miscarriage, and Abortion

cgriffin99's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

• 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

My god this book. This book was so good.  It went in the way it had to go but not in the way I wanted it too.  But everything that happened made entire sense for the way the world was built and how the characters were written.  It will destroy you emotionally, but if you've made it this far in the series then you know that already.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism