Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Dragon Republic - Republik Naga by R.F. Kuang

52 reviews

gioivb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Classism, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Cannibalism, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, War, Confinement, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Xenophobia, Child death, Chronic illness, and Cursing

odp's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-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

5.0

This series is amazing, I love it with all of my heart. It is dark, emotional and so beautifully written. Rin is written so vividly and the friendships that she has are very real. This book had me in a chokehold and I will not be able to stop talking about it for the months to come.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, Gore, Blood, Violence, Rape, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Murder, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Physical abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abandonment, Cannibalism, Bullying, and Ableism

Minor: Grief, Self harm, Abortion, Cannibalism, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

whailey'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, War, Gaslighting, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Genocide, Medical content, Blood, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Torture

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Classism, Infertility, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Abortion

guesswhosaninja's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am once again blown away by how consistently amazing R.F. Kuang’s prose is. She’s concise and evocative, deeply rooted in character perspective, and has masterful pacing throughout the entire book.

The first thing about the Dragon Republic that stands out to me is how good Kuang is at writing all the horrible intricacies of grey morality—maybe not even grey so much as her ability to convey the absolute atrocities people and nations commit, while making them so clearly reasoned. There’s no black and white of “the good guys”, which is imperative to the story she’s telling about these wars. Everyone in power abuses it in different ways, and inevitably every time it leads to nothing but more terror and darkness.

It certainly makes for a series that I think could feel like a slog of horrible events, but Kuang writes such compelling and real characters that, while the content is constantly heavy and dark, I never felt daunted by picking the book up like I have with other dark fantasies. Even knowing things were going to get worse, I was drawn in by Rin and her allies and always wanted to keep reading.

As I said with my review of The Poppy War, this series is very heavy. It pulls from real war crimes from history with sickening detail at times (moreso in Poppy War than here) so is not an easy lighthearted read at any point, but I really want to praise how Kuang handles the darkest elements of these stories. It never felt to me like pain for spectacle’s sake or just to be ‘dark and gritty’. It feels grounded and real.

I finished the book several weeks ago and the last line still gives me shivers; I can’t wait to read the next one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, War, and Addiction

Moderate: Drug abuse, Rape, and Drug use

Minor: Animal cruelty and Torture

isleoflinds's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Medical trauma, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Cursing, and Excrement

Minor: Animal death, Cannibalism, Miscarriage, Mental illness, and Slavery

book_sense's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

 There's nothing coherent i can say about this book apart from the fact this book annihilated my very existence. Rf Kuang is a phenomenal writer who's so ruthless with her characters it's almost scary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, War, and Xenophobia

griffinthief's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and War

Minor: Abortion

zahraa_aj'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This only made me cry thanks

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and War

fruitea's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

very gritty. the descriptions of battles etc. are very straight to the point, like there’s no sugar coating to make things seem less horrific. we see how the characters become desensitised to atrocities. they’re not invincible. they’re scared and angry and desperate and tormented. nothing about war is romanticised, which is a refreshing change from a lot of the other books about war i’ve read. it makes you think, “if i were in that situation, i’d never do something like that,” at first. then it makes you question your own principles, just as the characters do. it’s war. it’s horrifying and traumatising, people are unsympathetic and selfish, which is understandable because they’re terrified for their own lives, so to have to worry about thousands of others in the same situation would destroy their minds completely. i could go on about this book aaaaaaaaa the characters are so complex and interesting also i cried a lot reading this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, War, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

isabellaft's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, and Racism

Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy