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A review by syddey_syd
The Burning God by R.F. Kuang
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFF
That was a RIDE.
I had a feeling the book would end as it did. This is a fitting—if brutal, sad, and heart wrenching—ending to the Poppy War trilogy. Never before have I read such a complex and anti-hero character. So many times I wished things (by things I mean EVERY part of the series) could have turned out differently, but it wouldn’t have been true to the character.
I’ll need time to digest the series as a whole. I can’t say it was my favourite to read. I truly disliked Rin about 90% of the time. Her motivations, decisions, and morals were so foreign and distasteful to my own. She had a chance for redemption in the first book and she didn’t take it. If anything, this series is a warning against letting rage and vengeance drive you. It destroyed her relationships, her family, and ever her country. There were so many times I wanted to scream at her to STOP and think, but she never did.
My biggest critique of this book is the inconsistency in Rin’s character. She’s supposedly incredibly smart and capable—that’s set up in the first few chapters of the first book. But as the story goes on, she seems to have no smarts at all and no ability to strategize (when she was at the top of her strategy class at Sinegard). Perhaps that shift initially comes from her opium addiction, but after she was clean the backsliding continued. I found it hard to believe that someone who was so smart could oftentimes act so stupid, even if she was driven by rage.
For the absolute chaotic mess that this character was, Kuang did a great job at portraying her. I never want to enter that mind again.
That was a RIDE.
I had a feeling the book would end as it did. This is a fitting—if brutal, sad, and heart wrenching—ending to the Poppy War trilogy. Never before have I read such a complex and anti-hero character. So many times I wished things (by things I mean EVERY part of the series) could have turned out differently, but it wouldn’t have been true to the character.
My biggest critique of this book is the inconsistency in Rin’s character. She’s supposedly incredibly smart and capable—that’s set up in the first few chapters of the first book. But as the story goes on, she seems to have no smarts at all and no ability to strategize (when she was at the top of her strategy class at Sinegard). Perhaps that shift initially comes from her opium addiction, but after she was clean the backsliding continued. I found it hard to believe that someone who was so smart could oftentimes act so stupid, even if she was driven by rage.
For the absolute chaotic mess that this character was, Kuang did a great job at portraying her. I never want to enter that mind again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Cannibalism, War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder