Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

79 reviews

anispaperbacks's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I think I'm still in shock of finishing the trilogy.. 
 Watching Rin and the decisions she made throughout The Burning God was so fascinating. You know she's making choices that a morally sound person would not really be making but you can't help but enjoy it with some kind of sick satisfaction.

Speaking of such, the times in the book where she seemed to just have incredible divine power and influence, specifically at the Anvil and Mount Tianshen, were just SO satisfying to read. In general, it was great to see Rin once again fall into a devote-myself-to-this-superior-force-because-they-tell-me-how-crucial-i-am-to-the-cause-but-then-the-second-im-not-anymore-im-instantly-betrayed-and-discarded situation and then just go fuck this im doing my own thing now

Spoiler for both this book and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes lmao:

In chapter 33 I couldn't help but draw a comparison to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The character, determined for things to end how they will it, spiralling severely into paranoia, which then violently turns them against the person they were closest to (although Coriolanus was a bit more of a straight up horrible person and did not have any even slightly redeeming qualities lol). 

Anyway, this isn't much of a review yet, more just me sharing some thoughts I had. So: 

Overall, this was a great last novel in the trilogy. Despite the fact that I do feel a little unsatisfied and jarred at the ending, its the way things should have probably gone. I didn't enjoy (if enjoy is the right word for The Horrors experienced) The Burning God as much as I did The Dragon Republic, which is still by far my favourite in the trilogy, but this still rakes up 4 stars. I just feel like a lot of the book, I wasn't as invested in what was going on? I guess it just felt like there was a fair bit of reading to get to the bits which were just a bit more interesting to read, which IS fair for the topic of the book and understanding the gravity of everything going on, you can't have a book about war without large amounts of chapters on the military movements and engagements. It didn't diminish the book for me but The Burning God just wasn't quite what The Dragon Republic was to me. 

I'm never going to forgive R.F Kuang for what she has done to me. In my review of TDR, I'm pretty sure I said I would kill myself if anything happened to Rin and Kitay so I better get onto that then. /lhj The trilogy was devastating and the characters are just so believable and complex. I adore how R.F Kuang writes and I'm not sure what to do with myself now that I've finished all the books. These books just amazingly well show the absolute horrors and brutality of war. The absolute devastation it leaves in its wake. How it changes people and what it drives them to do. The Poppy War trilogy has got to be one of my favourite fantasy series I have read, they are so well done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Murder, War, Xenophobia, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Vomit, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Grief, and Racial slurs

Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infertility, Bullying, and Excrement

ladynocturnal's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

A book that is famed for having an unhinged, violent, and badass female character. This is what drew me to the series. Rin is not a good person. She is cruel, egotisical, and her anger controls nearly all her actions. She is in dire need of some more character development. She constantly makes foolish decisions that had me screaming at her since book one. I understand that her anger is a major flaw that sabotages her, but she never learns from her mistakes. I can recommend this book if you enjoy military and grimdark fantasy and can tolerate a stagnant main character. This book does not shy away from the horrors of war and how there are truly no "good guys" to be found. There are very poignant points on colonialism and the reality of war. Another flaw in R.F. Kuang's writing is that everything is spelled out for you. There were many times when lines, concepts, and major themes were drilled into your head out of fear that the reader might miss the point. This was hard to ignore. While I enjoyed this series I can't ignore the fact that this final book was a bit of a letdown.

The way the Trifecta was killed off was so anti-climatic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Murder, Violence, War, Drug abuse, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Kidnapping and Genocide

Minor: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Torture

icy_queen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Classism, Torture, Addiction, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcohol, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Drug use, Drug abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Child abuse, Slavery, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Minor: Abortion and Infertility

chasinggrace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Medical content, Excrement, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Stalking, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Classism, Cursing, Death, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, War, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, and Vomit

pagesihavenotyetread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Gore, Cannibalism, Suicide, Colonisation, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Rape, Suicide attempt, Vomit, War, Abortion, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Violence

izzywoo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, War, Genocide, Gore, Racial slurs, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Animal death, Grief, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Addiction, Classism, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Self harm

Moderate: Cannibalism

onthesamepage's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

4.0

Let them think of us as dirt, Rin thought. She was dirt. Her army was dirt. But dirt was common, ubiquitous, patient, and necessary. The soil gave life to the country. And the earth always reclaimed what it was owed. 

I don't know what it is about Kuang's writing, but she makes books of 600+ pages just fly by. I had a really hard time putting this down, and it's not because it was particularly fast-paced. I just really love Kuang's writing that much, and I will honestly read anything she publishes in the future.

I'm going to structure this a bit differently, because there are a couple of specific things I want to talk about.

Rin & Kitay

 She no longer fought from pure rage. She fought to protect him—and that, she had discovered, changed everything. 

I already loved their dynamic in The Dragon Republic, but The Burning God was even better. Their friendship is everything. The love they have for each other, the way they care, the way Kitay is Rin's anchor in every sense of the word and not just to help her access the Phoenix. 

"I don't mean to call you stupid, because I love you, but that plan is so stupid."

That moment towards the end, where she accuses him of turning on her, absolutely broke my heart. Nothing in this book is really okay, but I wanted this one thing to be the exception. As Rin loses her grip on her humanity more and more, Kitay staunchly continues to remind her of the difference between right and wrong. He refuses to compromise his principles, even when he knows he can't stop her, and that this will break them apart.

Nezha

"You can't do this for me," he said. "I won't let you."
"It's not for you. It's not a favor. It's the cruelest thing I could do."

What I was hoping for didn't happen, because this is R.F. Kuang, so of course it didn't, and what we did get makes a lot more sense anyway—the kind of betrayal that Nezha committed against Rin isn't something you just forgive and forget. Because everything is from Rin's perspective, Nezha's motivations remain opaque, which makes some of his contrary behaviour hard to understand. But it also adds a complexity to his relationship with Rin & Kitay—more than once, he says something that clearly expresses that he never wanted their trio to break the way it did. But even though he has a tactical mind, there's a naivety to his interactions with Rin, especially when they have a chance to actually talk. He expects (or rather, wishes) her to act in a way that doesn't align with who Rin is as a person. But I can't really blame him—I had naïve wishes going in, too.

The plot
The book spends a lot of time on armies travelling, political backstabbing, developing strategies, and, of course, the battles themselves. I thought it made for a cohesive story, but I can understand that people might be bored by the cycle Rin falls into. The Trifecta was definitely one of the more interesting parts, but I was disappointed by how that plotline ended because it felt too easy considering all the build-up.

That said, I thought the ending was absolutely perfect for the series, and it's exactly what I would expect from this author.

This was never going to end with the three of them once again on the same side. Rin was too far gone for that, and Nezha too resigned to an alliance with Hesperia. And with Rin acting the way she was, the only possible ending was for her to die, so that the world might live. I thought it made sense, considering her journey and who she is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Cannibalism, Suicide, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape

hailstorm3812's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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

4.0

God forbid a woman do anything (or I suppose god bidden and human decency is forbidding it). Really interesting book but it is just so bleak. I loved Venka and how she developed in this book rather than being used as a trauma prop. It was a really interesting arc for Rin, even if it was horrible to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, War, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual violence, Murder, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty

min_grachi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Hate crime, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Racism, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Addiction, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Blood, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Misogyny, and Violence

lizziaha's review against another edition

dark

3.75

This final book in the poppy war trilogy tastes bitter. Rin’s ascent into godhood (because that’s what it is ultimately, the making of a legend, something bigger than life) twists her humanity. It’s a logical progression, an examination of how supernatural power twists the wielder’s humanity. The problem is that in her godhood, Rin is alone. Her power, her ambition, her trust and her betrayals, they’ve all warped her. Her superiority separates her, even her closest relationships become strained. She stops seeing people as human. It’s painfully realistic, and hard to read. It’s a point that needs to be made, and it’s sickening because you (the reader) stop seeing these people as human too. I couldn’t feel anything over the many deaths in this book because I was so stuck in Rin’s head. Characters pop in and out of her warpath so quickly that it’s impossible to connect with them, or even see Rin connect with them. Most of the time, she doesn’t even try. It’s horrifying to realize the conclusion that this book is spiraling towards, tighter and tighter until you feel suffocated by the weight of it. Vicious circles, indeed. Rin doesn’t, can’t, come to this conclusion until the end of the book, thinking, “history moved in such vicious circles.” And I’ll admit, it did take me a bit aback to recognize some of the parallels between Rin & co and the Trifecta. It’s a tough book to rate, because the very things that made me dislike it are the things that make it masterful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Religious bigotry, Violence, Blood, Xenophobia, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abortion and Death of parent