A review by perihanerdogan
The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.75

I have enjoyed the first two books greatly however this book was a disappointment. The character development from the second book was thrown away for the sake of plot. Rin did not learn anything from the Nezha and Vaisra's betrayal. We did not eve see the effects of losing the characters from the second book. 
The main personal conflict of the second book was that Rin lacked her own will, was afraid of having it due to the guilt lingering in her mind for killing people. It was a morally corrupt yet realistic decision. It made Rin more humane.
After the betrayal in the second book, I have expected her to slowly develop a will of her own with her own army.  The book had so much potential, yet we just watched Rin to do the mistakes from the previous book over and over again. This destroyed the picture of Rin being a hardworker with high adaptibility.

She should have been able to learn how to lead and how to decide as a commander yet she failed to do so.

It did not make her development more believable, in the contrary it destroyed the character's only stable trait and left me-the reader- annoyed. 
This is without talking about the obvious plot holes and unnecessary subplots