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A review by catsy2022
The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Rating: B-
"If you think you can't beat it, then you should kill yourself."
The Dragon Republic is the 2nd book in the Poppy War series by R F Kuang. I actually didn't intend to continue on with the series, but I borrowed this book from the library after knowing my own behaviour towards keeping books. This was a rollercoaster with a lot of different tense moments, which made me think a lot about the world, the writing and characters.
In the first book, Rin was fighting against a system that kept her down due to her skin colour. After the 3rd Poppy War against the Mugenese, the Dragon warlord feels that the empress So Daji is unfit to rule and unite the Nikaran empire so he starts a rebellion intending to recruit allies in the south to take the north of Nikara. Rin and the Cike are recruited in addition with the purpose of being a secret weapon against the Daji and as a bargaining chip against the Hesperian, a powerful western race who are judging the Nikaran war to see if they are worthy of aid.
I had a few thoughts about this book that I thought I would break down into dot points so I could really get my thoughts out.
• Rin is not a bad bitch. In this book she is just a whiny protagonist who resorts to saying fuck you all too often and loses any of the depth she had in the first book. I wish the author had explored the potential repercussions of her opium addiction and the PTSD she had from the war. I felt like there was a lot of potential here that was lost.
• Rin and Kitay's friendship - After the wounds from the first book, I felt like Rin did not put enough effort into mending the friendship with Kitay. She did almost nothing, in fact, and later in the book the y express friendly affection towards each other. They were both horribly traumatised.
• Rin and Nezha - This felt so forced and unnatural. I didn't see any of the love or affection come through, more that it was just suddenly there and it never became anything before the end of the book. It was all so shoehorned in and I didn't feel like it was a genuine romance, it was just something to increase the drama of the 3rd book.
• Venka - Venka is stated to be an abuse survivor...and that's pretty much it. She isn't anything more than her trauma. There isn't more development or many bonding scenes. In fact after her first appearance arguing with Nezha, she only appears in the story another 5 or 6 times and she hardly does anything. Rin and Daji are the only female main characters in the book and everyone else is male or a minor character. Why is that?
• Hesperia - Look, we can see from a fucking mile away that they represent the British or, in general, the conquering westerners. You don't need to say "the white race" we get it. We got it when they had one god, advanced technology and light skin. It was all so on the nose and then actually blatantly stated that it was ridiculous and not subtle.
• Nezha's shamanism - literally on the previous page Kitay, Rin and Nezha are sitting around a campfire discussing how they could train Nezha to be a Shaman and then he literally is a Shaman who denies his powers due to the trauma that came from it. That's not good foreshadowing.
What I did like were... um...the scenes with Daji, the hopelessness and the scene with the dumplings.
I'm still going to go on with the third book. I have to now, but R F Kuang needs to stop pulling directly from history and grow as an author.
"You could be so much more. Do so much more. Listen to me. You could change history."
"Haven't I changed history enough?"
"If you think you can't beat it, then you should kill yourself."
The Dragon Republic is the 2nd book in the Poppy War series by R F Kuang. I actually didn't intend to continue on with the series, but I borrowed this book from the library after knowing my own behaviour towards keeping books. This was a rollercoaster with a lot of different tense moments, which made me think a lot about the world, the writing and characters.
In the first book, Rin was fighting against a system that kept her down due to her skin colour. After the 3rd Poppy War against the Mugenese, the Dragon warlord feels that the empress So Daji is unfit to rule and unite the Nikaran empire so he starts a rebellion intending to recruit allies in the south to take the north of Nikara. Rin and the Cike are recruited in addition with the purpose of being a secret weapon against the Daji and as a bargaining chip against the Hesperian, a powerful western race who are judging the Nikaran war to see if they are worthy of aid.
I had a few thoughts about this book that I thought I would break down into dot points so I could really get my thoughts out.
• Rin is not a bad bitch. In this book she is just a whiny protagonist who resorts to saying fuck you all too often and loses any of the depth she had in the first book. I wish the author had explored the potential repercussions of her opium addiction and the PTSD she had from the war. I felt like there was a lot of potential here that was lost.
• Rin and Kitay's friendship - After the wounds from the first book, I felt like Rin did not put enough effort into mending the friendship with Kitay. She did almost nothing, in fact, and later in the book the y express friendly affection towards each other. They were both horribly traumatised.
• Rin and Nezha - This felt so forced and unnatural. I didn't see any of the love or affection come through, more that it was just suddenly there and it never became anything before the end of the book. It was all so shoehorned in and I didn't feel like it was a genuine romance, it was just something to increase the drama of the 3rd book.
• Venka - Venka is stated to be an abuse survivor...and that's pretty much it. She isn't anything more than her trauma. There isn't more development or many bonding scenes. In fact after her first appearance arguing with Nezha, she only appears in the story another 5 or 6 times and she hardly does anything. Rin and Daji are the only female main characters in the book and everyone else is male or a minor character. Why is that?
• Hesperia - Look, we can see from a fucking mile away that they represent the British or, in general, the conquering westerners. You don't need to say "the white race" we get it. We got it when they had one god, advanced technology and light skin. It was all so on the nose and then actually blatantly stated that it was ridiculous and not subtle.
What I did like were... um...the scenes with Daji, the hopelessness and the scene with the dumplings.
I'm still going to go on with the third book. I have to now, but R F Kuang needs to stop pulling directly from history and grow as an author.
"You could be so much more. Do so much more. Listen to me. You could change history."
"Haven't I changed history enough?"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Rape, Vomit, Xenophobia, Torture, and Medical content
Minor: Cannibalism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Abortion