Scan barcode
A review by dhrish
The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
C/W: PTSD, canon typical violence, self-harm, drug use, addiction, mentions of sex work, suicide, racism, abortion, alcoholism, drug use, death, killing, emotional/physical abuse implied cannibalism and rape.
I will once again reiterate that content warnings for this series should be taken very seriously. Your mental health and balance need to be a priority when reading this book and I am not kidding. If anyone is interested in major history points used so far in TPW trilogy, https://readbytiffany.com/2020/11/15/everything-you-need-to-know-before-you-read-the-poppy-war-by-r-f-kuang/ by Read By Tiffany is a brilliant starting point.
Kuang's writing has definitely improved by leaps and bounds since the first book. The transitions were almost perfect and Rin read so exquisitely.
Where TDR shines in its use to draw from history and historical moments to paint a picture of war and class inequality. We spent a lot more time in Rin's head and I was glad that Rin acknowledged her own short-comings.
Rin isn't a character one likes because she embodies a sense of goodness. Rin is human, she comes from the poorest and most looked down upon and while she has assimilated herself well, she tries so hard to be useful in order to never be dispensable. The number of times my heart broke for her this book cannot be counted. Also the House of Yin can stop being power-hungry and self-serving. I literally don't have sympathy for any of them at the moment, including Nezha. The moment of Rin and Kitay being platonic soulmates gave me much needed serotonin in a moment where this book really put me through the most.
What I loved most of all when reading TDR was conversations around religion and the justification religion uses to do horrible things. It is something not really talked about in books about war.
I guess I now have to talk about things I didn't like as much. Kuang introduces a lot of side characters and while only a few are relevant in any given time, she makes them way too interesting for me to be ok with them disappearing for chapters on end only for them to make a cameo later on. Another almost jarring discovery for me was the fact that I didn't really know Rin's motivations other than she is good at war and doesn't feel valued without it. She doesn't have a Thanos rest speech about what she wants to do when the work is done. It's almost like there isn't a Rin if she isn't fighting for something or someone.
Either way, I'll probably take a break for a while from these series because my soul needs to process what happened in this book before reading the final book of the trilogy.
I will once again reiterate that content warnings for this series should be taken very seriously. Your mental health and balance need to be a priority when reading this book and I am not kidding. If anyone is interested in major history points used so far in TPW trilogy, https://readbytiffany.com/2020/11/15/everything-you-need-to-know-before-you-read-the-poppy-war-by-r-f-kuang/ by Read By Tiffany is a brilliant starting point.
Kuang's writing has definitely improved by leaps and bounds since the first book. The transitions were almost perfect and Rin read so exquisitely.
Where TDR shines in its use to draw from history and historical moments to paint a picture of war and class inequality. We spent a lot more time in Rin's head and I was glad that Rin acknowledged her own short-comings.
Rin isn't a character one likes because she embodies a sense of goodness. Rin is human, she comes from the poorest and most looked down upon and while she has assimilated herself well, she tries so hard to be useful in order to never be dispensable. The number of times my heart broke for her this book cannot be counted. Also
What I loved most of all when reading TDR was conversations around religion and the justification religion uses to do horrible things. It is something not really talked about in books about war.
I guess I now have to talk about things I didn't like as much. Kuang introduces a lot of side characters and while only a few are relevant in any given time, she makes them way too interesting for me to be ok with them disappearing for chapters on end only for them to make a cameo later on. Another almost jarring discovery for me was the fact that I didn't really know Rin's motivations other than she is good at war and doesn't feel valued without it. She doesn't have a Thanos rest speech about what she wants to do when the work is done. It's almost like there isn't a Rin if she isn't fighting for something or someone.
Either way, I'll probably take a break for a while from these series because my soul needs to process what happened in this book before reading the final book of the trilogy.
Content Warnings
C/W: PTSD, canon typical violence, self-harm, drug use, addiction, mentions of sex work, suicide, racism, abortion, alcoholism, drug use, death, killing, emotional/physical abuse implied cannibalism and rape.