Reviews tagging Suicide

The Dragon Republic, by R.F. Kuang

26 reviews

shannahtan's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I thought this book moved much faster than the first one. Rin is really unbearable. She is completely unable to process emotion, and she really has no remorse for any of the shit she has done which includes genocide and  bad leadership leading to the Cike injuries and death but at the same time she’s so torn up about Altan dying. She blames herself for his death which feels like it doesn’t really fit her character. She would commit mass genocide on the Mugen again, but she also feels bad about it?! I do think it’s interesting how you can root for Rin at times while also hating her. I often wonder why the Cike stay with her, but I guess that’s similar to followers of Mao. Basically, everyone sucks, but you also kind of want them to turn it around. I guess I’ll read the 3rd to see if it happens. If you never learned about Chinese history, this might be an interesting foray for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Genocide, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Self harm, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Rape

thousandlives's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

R. F. Kuang really said nothing is off limits for this book 😳

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Gun violence, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Death

Moderate: Rape and Suicide

faraway_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

I'm utterly destroyed.
How do I contact R.F. Kuang? I need to send her my therapy bills.

Spoiler

Fire and water looked so lovely together. It was a pity they destroyed each other by nature.

Spoiler

Quiero pensar que hay una explicación completamente razonable para semejante traición; no puedo decir que fue un plot twist porque honestamente me lo re esperaba pero eso no hizo que me doliera menos

On another note, hubo cosas de este libro que no me cerraron y por eso lo ratee menos que al primero pero no fue nada que me impidiera disfrutarlo y sufrir como una desquiciada.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Addiction, Confinement, Rape, Blood, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and War

Moderate: Vomit, Suicide, and Torture

qilsu's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Self harm, Torture, Abortion, Cursing, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Injury/injury detail, Sexual violence, Suicide, War, Addiction, Murder, Racism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Violence

ainhoah's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Abortion, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Genocide, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Miscarriage, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, War, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cannibalism

jodoret's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• 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

4.5

Listen. The book? Excellent. But do I feel vaguely sick while reading it? Yes. Saying ‘check the trigger warnings’ simply doesn’t feel like enough. But I also don’t have the adequate words to be able to properly encompass this book. The best I can do is you know sometimes (often) books are escapism? You project yourself into a different world, and especially with fantasy books (at least for myself), you feel like you could live there. You want to be in Rivendell,
you’d die to live in Prynthian, you’d kill to be a dragon rider, etc. Even a lot of fantasy books that deal with war, deal with it in a glamorous noble way. You’d weld a sword at helms deep, you’d battle foes with magic and bows and blades. But this book. Isn’t any of those books. You don’t want to be there. You don’t glamorize the war. Because it’s very real. It’s lived history for people in many places on our planet. Hell, it’s real reality for people. Genocide. Rape. Colonialism. This is an excellent book. It’s jarring. Horrifying. But honest. And it forces you to confront the ugly truth of what war is, was, and always will be.  I truly don’t know how to properly examine or review this book - this series - but I can tell you that this book is going to stick with me. The writing is excellent. The characters are complex. The story is tragic. Make sure you know what you’re getting into before you read it, check the trigger warnings. Take them to heart. Maybe have something happy and fluffy to read on standby (I’ve just plowed through the first 2 outta the 3 and I think imma read The Queer Principles of Kit Webb before I start the 3rd cause I just need something where I can turn off my brain and just vibe before going into the 3rd). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicide, War, Genocide, and Colonisation

youcancallmefi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Blood, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Addiction, War, Violence, and Suicide

rob's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Would've been a solid 4.5, but there were too many "Oh come on!" moments.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, War, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Rape, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

livreads16's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book… omg I thought the first one was amazing. This one was even better. The pacing, the character development, the drama— amazing. I really liked the way we got to see Rin work through everything. I liked her development with the other characters and the building ( and breaking down) of relationships.

Spoiler

You’re gonna have to work really hard for me to get behind a Nezha redemption. He was already on thin fucking ice with that whole “all shamans should die” thing and now he got like Suni and Baji killed too? Fuck you, you betrayed Rin and she trusted you because you knew she loved you you little rich asshole fuck you

Absolutely living for Rin at the end of this book. Super excited to see her murder lots of people in the next book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Abortion, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, War, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Religious bigotry, and Vomit

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, and Medical content

toffishay's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Continues the darkness and the heaviness! I inhaled this book in about 2 days. There were times when I audibly laughed, cried, screamed. Definitely still a great read for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and the Dread Nation duology.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Grief, Drug use, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, War, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexism, Self harm, Murder, Kidnapping, Confinement, Animal death, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Classism, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Suicide, Sexual assault, Injury/injury detail, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Misogyny, Cursing, and Racism

Minor: Ableism, Miscarriage, Genocide, Abortion, Cannibalism, and Excrement