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A review by tm400
The Burning God by R.F. Kuang
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- 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
4.25
god what a spectacular yet heartbreaking end to the poppy war trilogy
this last book details the final battles and skirmishes leading up to the end of the war, and what an ending it was. you follow the life of rin across several years of her life and it's hard to really fathom how long it's been since the beginning of the series. the way that the series was written in a third person limited pov makes it easy to experience the books like you're rin herself - but with that comes a lot of pain and sadness. you want to empathize with rin for fighting for her country and her people after facing ethnic cleansing and colonialism from both the federation and hesperia, but who wants to empathize with someone who kills with no remorse?
there were so many points throughout the trilogy where you get the tiniest sliver of hope and it's ripped away from you pretty much every time. i was expecting an enemies-to-lovers moment at the end of the dragon republic and it got pried from my hands
the trilogy talks about friendship, betrayal, the saddening reality of war waged by a western country looking to proselytize, and how it's real people like you or me - not some unfathomable monster - that start entire wars and kill millions of people.
i found this last installment of the series to be slower than the others (also the largest by far!!! over 600 pages) but the writing was captivating as always. r.f. kuang has shown time and time again that every spot on the bestsellers list is well deserved. i'm giving this book a 4.25/5
(my copy has 617 pages. my copy also had the drowning faith printed in the back which was also phenomenal but DID NOT HELP my rin-nezha, enemies-to-lovers-loving heart. very tragic)
this last book details the final battles and skirmishes leading up to the end of the war, and what an ending it was. you follow the life of rin across several years of her life and it's hard to really fathom how long it's been since the beginning of the series. the way that the series was written in a third person limited pov makes it easy to experience the books like you're rin herself - but with that comes a lot of pain and sadness. you want to empathize with rin for fighting for her country and her people after facing ethnic cleansing and colonialism from both the federation and hesperia, but who wants to empathize with someone who kills with no remorse?
there were so many points throughout the trilogy where you get the tiniest sliver of hope and it's ripped away from you pretty much every time. i was expecting an enemies-to-lovers moment at the end of the dragon republic and it got pried from my hands
the trilogy talks about friendship, betrayal, the saddening reality of war waged by a western country looking to proselytize, and how it's real people like you or me - not some unfathomable monster - that start entire wars and kill millions of people.
i found this last installment of the series to be slower than the others (also the largest by far!!! over 600 pages) but the writing was captivating as always. r.f. kuang has shown time and time again that every spot on the bestsellers list is well deserved. i'm giving this book a 4.25/5
(my copy has 617 pages. my copy also had the drowning faith printed in the back which was also phenomenal but DID NOT HELP my rin-nezha, enemies-to-lovers-loving heart. very tragic)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Sexual assault
Minor: Cannibalism