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

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

So, yeah, this series is definitely one where I don't thinks it's bad at all but it's not wholly to my tastes. The focus of the books was just never quite on what I wanted it to be, and it made me feel like some things weren't as well-developed as they could've been. The magic-system (i.e. shamanism) was very often left in a sort-of middle ground between soft- and hard-magic, so the explanations were detailed but not enough to really satisfy my curiosity. The big under-developed thing to me, though, was definitely the "romance" between Rin and Nezha—I think it would've still been equally as compelling if their feelings remained platonic, much like her and Kitay's had. The book focuses heavily on military stratagems and movements akin to a history book, as well as Rin's slow descent into despotism, which are interesting on their own but are, again, not quite my taste.