allenuhh's review against another edition
3.0
Again, not bad just mentally exhausting, I can't marathon these books, I need months between.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Self harm, Violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Pregnancy
kimmag92's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, War, Addiction, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Injury/injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Death
astridasa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Racism, Mental illness, Addiction, Torture, Sexism, Infertility, War, Xenophobia, Vomit, Violence, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Medical content, Gore, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Murder, Medical trauma, Injury/injury detail, and Grief
tren_tren23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Sexual assault, Addiction, Drug abuse, Murder, Drug use, Classism, Body horror, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Rape, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Addiction, Child death, Classism, Grief, Racism, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Self harm, Excrement, Medical trauma, Murder, and Xenophobia
shainalite's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Kengerian, ketakutan dan trauma yang dirasakan Rin bisa ikut aku rasakan namun ga sampai bikin aku berhenti baca buku ini. Seperti buku pertama, gaya penulisan buku ini mudah diikuti dan engaging, sehingga sejauh ini aku bisa bilang (gaya penulisan) R.F. Kuang adalah jodohku 🤭
Muncul karakter-karakter baik baru maupun karakter yang sempat muncul di buku pertama, dan ketika aku menyelesaikan buku ini rasanya R.F. Kuang kayak menggambarkan kehidupan nyata dalam bentuk buku fiksi di mana kita tidak pernah benar-benar tahu mana pihak yang ingin kita dukung (misalnya dalam politik atau dalam kasus tertentu yang muncul di media sosial) karena masing-masing pihak bisa menyajikan fakta mereka masing-masing. Penggambaran apa yang dilakukan Rin dalam buku ini, pihak-pihak mana saja yang dia dukung dan gimana dia akhirnya memutuskan menurut aku bukan sesuatu yang ga ada artinya karena itu merupakan pembelajaran juga.
Oke, kemudian Nezha, aku hanya ingin masukin dia ke dalam tong, bertahun-tahun, siapa tau dia bisa jadi tape.
Sejujurnya aku belum pernah baca buku military fantasy sebelumnya, jadi buku ini sudah detail namun masih bisa aku pahami sebagai manusia awam yang tidak tahu apa-apa mengenai militer, terutama penyusunan strategi dan ide-ide yang dimunculkan seputar peperangan. Perdebatan yang dimunculkan di buku ini juga menarik baik yang membahas agama, strategi perang maupun gimana menjalani kehidupan dengan kondisi saat ini. Suka banget kalau ada buku yang ditulis dengan membuat beberapa opini berkonflik dengan cara yang masuk akal mulai dari konflik semacam perdebatan hingga sebesar peperangan yang melibatkan beberapa negara di dunia.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Medical content, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Body shaming, Torture, Vomit, Blood, Deadnaming, War, Grief, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/injury detail, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Abortion
marah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Classism, Medical content, Addiction, Confinement, Gore, Murder, Violence, War, Blood, Child death, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
Moderate: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Injury/injury detail, Suicide attempt, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Abortion, Self harm, Slavery, Vomit, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Child death, Police brutality, Bullying, Cursing, and Death of parent
I think that because of these topics, this book had potential to fall into trauma-porn territory but it definitely did not. R.F. Kuang writes about this material very well.Spoiler
BUT ALSO THE DUMPLINGS PART WAS SO FUCKED UPtrash_reader_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The relationships Rin had with everyone were all over the place. She admitted to herself and others that she wasn't a good friend, she wasn't a good commander or soldier (which is wild, because she knew how to fight and was a good fighter before she was able to control the fire), but continued to be surprised when her shitty actions and words made people not like her or disagree with her. The majority of the first half of the book she spent throwing tantrums, threatening to burn entire towns when she didn't get her way, and vomiting on herself.
Spoiler
Which leads me to my most unbelievable part of the book: Rin's romance-coded interactions. Because how the hell could Nezha, someone who hated her with every ounce of his soul for the first three years they knew each other, fall in love with someone who is screaming and threatening to burn or kill thousands of innocent people and vomiting on herself every time he sees her, when in the first book he believed she was nothing but uneducated, Southern trash who didn't belong anywhere outside of her province? He even called her "Speerly trash" several times in the second book. So... you want me to believe that he's in love with her? And she's in love with him? And somehow she's been in love with Altan too? None of that makes any sense, and the amount of times it was mentioned in the book got really annoying really fast.Rin's character development (or devolving, in this case) makes sense if you look at it as her going mad or struggling for power with the God and the Seal, but it did give the book a scatterbrained feel to it. Rin's decisions throughout the book seemed to be all over the place and not thought out at all and I understand the need for it, but - She had so much potential in the first book and then threw it all away to become the people she despised and then end up changing her mind anyway.
The next book is about to absolutely crazy, I can already tell.
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Self harm
Minor: Addiction and Abortion
madisonbell_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: War
Moderate: Murder, Animal death, Death, Rape, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Injury/injury detail, Self harm, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexism, and Sexual assault
toriel_'s review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: War, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Blood, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Torture, Rape, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Racism, and Grief
Minor: Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, and Abortion
faroroshae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Confinement, Vomit, Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Murder, Classism, Gaslighting, Blood, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Death, Racism, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Child death, Violence, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Addiction, Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Abortion, Alcoholism, and Miscarriage