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bookbaristeas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, and Violence
kirbylover16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Violence
Kinda everything...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
studiolindsay'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, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Violence, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Suicide, and Self harm
Moderate: Vomit and Abortion
phoenixfire'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: Child death, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Racism, Miscarriage, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Emotional abuse, and Death
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
ireadinbed's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I found the relationships in this book so much better developed and interesting and the action sequences were really fun to read. Plus the ultimate villains are TERRIFYING.
But I will say I kept feeling like I was missing stuff occasionally. Like stuff that should have been in page was off page or something? But I also read it in three big chunks so could be user error.
Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Religious bigotry, Rape, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, and Addiction
Moderate: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Self harm, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Blood, and Animal death
fearsparks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
This book is unpredictable and raw. Many things chocked me and was hard to accept.
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, and Murder
plumpaperbacks'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
4.5
I love Rin and Kitay’s friendship. I loved seeing Venka and Rin become allies and then friends. Rin and Nezha’s dynamic was also very interesting to me. I know this series is a military fantasy inspired by real Chinese fantasy and it isn’t at all focused on romance, but can I just say that there’s SOMETHING going on between those two? Is that just me? While I like the way his character was written, I don’t love Nezha the way I do Rin and Kitay. I’m in a love-hate relationship with him at the moment. I’m excited yet concerned to see what unfolds in the final novel, given that every single review of it I’ve seen just talks about how heart-wrenching it is. I’ll get there eventually.
Representation
- protagonist of color
- some side characters of color
Graphic: Violence, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Blood, Body horror, Addiction, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Xenophobia, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Minor: Ableism, Abortion, Pedophilia, and Miscarriage
janinab'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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, and Violence
tinytrashqueen's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Rape, Drug abuse, Body horror, Child death, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Blood, Death, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Vomit, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Genocide, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Dementia, Pedophilia, and Slavery