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izzywoo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Cannibalism
brynalexa's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
kesreads13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Addiction, Miscarriage, and Abortion
kaylaswhitmore's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
First, my praise for TBG… Where in the previous two books I felt like some of the relationships lacked the time required to endear me to them, this one absolutely flipped that upside down. In particular, I found that the party’s with Rin and Kitay were some of my favorite. Kuang really found such a tender and beautiful balance between love and friendship with those two, and the adamantly platonic aspect to their bond was a welcome one. In turn, Rin and Venka’s relationship was both inspiring and heartbreaking (if you’ve read it, you’ll understand), and I never would have predicted it becoming so strong. That, paired with Jiang’s final moments, really elevated my investment in Rin’s emotional character building (ironically enough).
Nezha and Rin on the other hand…. Fuck, man. What a twist in the gut. I’ll be honest, the optimist in me was really rooting for them even tho the pessimist in me saw the parallels coming a mile away. Even still, it was a gut wrenching way to close out the series and I honestly couldn’t see it ending any differently. That hurts to say, but I do think that the strength of Kuang’s writing is that she created a deliciously complex main character. When I loved her, I LOVED her, and while I never hated her, I couldn’t help but cringe at her lack of foresight at times.
That brings me to my critiques. As a whole, I think this is a super well-thought out trilogy, especially considering Kuang was only 19 when TPW was published and 23 when TBG was published! Insane! However, I do feel that my biggest issue with the series is that it presented such a deeply painful world with too little reprieve. It’s not that I think she needed to soften the pain, but that she might have added more little joys and moments that allowed us to understand why anyone would ever want to keep living in this world lol. Sometimes, the best way to set up a tragedy is to surround it with comedy or lightness, and I personally felt that her endless strings of tragedy throughout the series led me to a jadedness of emotion—such that the ending lacked some of its potential “punch.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I still cried haha, but I think it could have made me sob if I had actually believed that any of them could achieve a happy ending. But aside from that, the only other issues I had were perhaps differences of writing style—which is of no fault of Kuang. Just simple preference.
All in all, I think this book alone had a wonderful richness of tone and a stunningly heartbreaking narrative. I will most definitely reread it in the future and hope others take on this world as well. It certainly left me much food for thought, and I thoroughly enjoyed the mythical and tragic telling of Rin Fang’s life. Then again, Im always a sucker for female rage represented well ;)
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, and Religious bigotry
wolfst4r's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Rape and Cannibalism
Minor: Forced institutionalization
matcha_pages's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and War
Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Religious bigotry
stitchof's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, 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, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
rnbhargava's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
The Dragon Republic was a minor misstep but overall I would give the series a 4-4.5. I actually believe I’ll revisit this book series in the future. R.F. Kuang has a space in my heart as an author to watch. Good thing I already got Babel and Yellowface already for whenever I choose to read them.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Yes, there are all the triggers. In particular, there’s mob violence because the country is going through famine, illnesses, devastated towns and cities ruined by war and further problems that come about because of governmental instability. It’s all very graphic. This is late stage war. There’s even poisoning of water sources among other things. Basically every issue you can think of with war toward the end of it is here. Brace yourself or read something else.praaliine's review against another edition
- 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
<16 hours after>
it was a tragedy unlike anything i’ve ever read, and there were times when the story was just so overwhelmingly depressing. i actually read over the final chapter again after work and i wept even harder.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
grapestakes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Drug use, Genocide, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism