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hailsatan'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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Child death, Gun violence, Incest, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Ableism, Abortion, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Cursing, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
praaliine'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
5.0
A fantastic read, as expected.
P.S. watch out for chapter 28 (graphic SA towards the end of the chapter)
Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, Physical abuse, Rape, Vomit, Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Bullying, Colonisation, Gaslighting, and Animal death
stefy27'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Rape, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, War, Physical abuse, Racism, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Animal death, Colonisation, and Emotional abuse
violetlunablossom'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
4.75
Su Daji gets a section of her own because my god, she's such an amazingly complex character. She had only two scenes in this book but they were spectacular. Even when she wasn't physically there, her presence took up space in every chapter. You understand why she did the things she did but you also kind of hate her because of all the brutality we saw back in The Poppy War. Out of all the shamans, her powers are definitely the most interesting to me and they really suit her well. I'm so excited to see what kind of role she plays in the final book.
The brutality was definitely upped in this book too. There were multiple scenes that had me setting down my book because of how upset I was, and with the introduction of the Hesperians (who are a fill in for the British), both the racism and physical violence had another layer of grossness. Kuang did a really good job of getting me to hate them, even if it was pretty easy for me to dislike them from the get go.
I'm very excited to tear into The Burning God soon. I've been told to save my tears for that one so I'll be buying a box of tissues before I start reading it.
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Addiction, Classism, War, Colonisation, and Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Genocide
Minor: Abortion
faroroshae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Confinement, Vomit, Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Murder, Classism, Gaslighting, Blood, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Death, Racism, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Child death, Violence, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Addiction, Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Abortion, Alcoholism, and Miscarriage
imanqblake's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Torture, Confinement, Death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, and War
cemeterygay'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Self harm, Violence, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Torture, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Cannibalism
Additional CW: Scientific racism, Christian imperialism, and colorismperseffable's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Gore, War, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Violence, Torture, Classism, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, and Racism
Moderate: Trafficking, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Gun violence
Minor: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Medical content, Confinement, Child death, Xenophobia, Abortion, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Infertility, Gun violence, Excrement, Cursing, and Chronic illness
aehist'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
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Racism, War, Xenophobia, Torture, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Colonisation, Child death, Cannibalism, Body horror, Blood, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, and Abortion
andromeda_1998's review against another edition
- 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
As the people who read my review of the poppy war will know, I love the character and worldbuilding in this series. R.F. Kuang shows us the brutality of war in a really graphic way. And I believe this is the only way to make people see the history of humankind. A lot of readers have problems with the gruesome depictions of war in this series but this is how war looks like. The most horrendous things have been done in wartime’s and we have to acknowledge the fact that humanity could have been spared a lot of horrors if we would just accept each other. R.F Kuang says it best: “They believe in a singular and all-powerful deity, which means they cannot accept the truth of other gods. And when nations start to believe that other beliefs lead to damnation, violence becomes inevitable.”
Why did I give this amazing book 4 stars instead of five? The start of this book is slow. At around a hundred pages the story picks up but around 300 pages it falls flat and I had to fight till around 500 pages in for the plot to pick up again.
This book could have been better and I feel one of the reasons that this happens is because there isn’t a lot happening between the characters. We don’t really get scenes where they get to know each other. This book focuses on the war talk and the strategy behind fights and sometimes you head just needs a break and some human interaction between characters could do the trick.
I would still recommend this series though! The books are amazing but before you start reading them check the triggerwarnings!
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Trafficking