irezdurezd's review against another edition
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Genocide, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Drug use, and Murder
Moderate: Rape
vibingandy'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
5.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Violence, Rape, Genocide, War, Forced institutionalization, Torture, and Racism
lyrapollock'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Rape, War, Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Death, Genocide, Drug abuse, Torture, Drug use, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Colonisation, War, Torture, Slavery, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Abandonment, Violence, Racism, Murder, Dementia, Child death, and Blood
jaduhluhdabooks'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
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexual violence, War, Xenophobia, Genocide, Colonisation, Addiction, Abandonment, Torture, Rape, Racism, Mental illness, and Grief
kingspite618's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
THE THEMES OF THE EXTREMES OF MORALITY, OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMANITY AND INHUMANITY AND THE DIVINE, OF DEVOTION LINKED TO LOVE!!!! THE THEMES OF RAGE AND HATRED BEING BORN FROM LOVE!!! THE INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BOTH EMOTIONS AND THE WAY THEY BOTH DRIVE THE MC!!! THE SYMBOLISM!!!! THE WORLDBUILDING!!!! THE PLOT AND THE
Spoiler
(SORT OF) PLOTWIST AT THE END!!!!ALSO!!!! JIANG IS SO COOL TOO!! AND NEZHA!!! AND FANG FUCKING RUNIN!!!!!?!?!?!?! I LOVE THEM ALL SO SO SO SOOOOOMUCH SKCJDKXJDKX!!!!!!
Seriously though. I've never felt such a connection to ANY other mc, (and characters, in general), since forever. It has been a long while since a character has made me so SO I N S A N E and Chronically Deranged as Rin (and Altan) does (probably since I met Maven from Red Queen). Her character arc is
Spoiler
on a Eren Jaeger-levelI sometimes couldn't completely understand her motivations, or the way she changes opinions rather quickly sometimes. But I could always get behind her reasoning, and I guess the sudden and extreme mood changes are due to the fact that she's living in an extreme situation, such as a war. Also, since she's an unreliable narrator, I LOVED the way she greatly influences the way the reader perceives the other characters (and all of her world). I can understand that she might not be likable to some, but I wouldn't argue that she isn't an INCREDIBLY well written character!!!
SHE MAKES ME SOOOOOOOOOO BEYOND INSANE IT'S CRAZY. NO ONE COMPARES TO FANG RIN. NO ONE EVEN COMES C L O S E. MI REINA <3333
Aside from that, and moving on to more serious matters. I've never seen someone in YA fantasy before deal with topics as sensitive as war,
Spoiler
g*nocide, and r*pe(I want to add that this is just my opinion as someone who has never experienced any of the topics she writes about (mentioned before). Of course, a person who actually relates to them might have a very different and more valid opinion - I just wanted to share my thoughts anyway, but I thought it was important to mention this too).
Also, I wanted to add here that the theme of dehumanization of the enemy in times of war was so interesting and well-written, as tragic and fucked up as the parallels are
Spoiler
(Rin at the end of the story dehumanizing her "enemies" and the Federation like the Nikara were dehumanized.That's on positive aspects.
On negative aspects, I felt like the pacing was a little too fast (4 whole years go by within the same book), and as a slow-paced books-lover, I sometimes would've wished that things happened more slowly. On the other hand, some chapters were a little hard to go through exactly because of this, because it seemed like not much of anything was going on. Despite this, the story was still immensely enjoyable, and the resolution for it was SO. GOOD. that it's worth reading through the whole book.
I just feel like this book caters specifically to my personal tastes in types of characters, themes, plotlines, worldbuilding, tropes etc... on such a scale that it's unimaginable. Like I would've never expected to like a book (ANY book) as much as I liked this???? AND AS AN ASPIRING AUTHOR IT WAS SO INSPIRING TOO OMG?!?!?!?!???? it's going to be on my top 3 favorite series of all time list FOR SURE. 2947293810191018492 STARS OUT OF 5
R. F. KUANG THE WRITER THAT YOU AREEE
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Grief, Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, Death, Gore, Murder, Torture, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
bexsbestbooks'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
4.5
Graphic: Rape, War, and Racism
finn_1312'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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Torture, Sexual violence, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexism, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Confinement, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Rape
Moderate: Self harm, Eating disorder, Excrement, Vomit, Sexual content, and Animal death
historical fantasy, informative, challenging,aubreyprobably's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: War, Violence, Addiction, Torture, Murder, and Rape
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
ataraxia96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, War, Violence, Torture, Racial slurs, Racism, Body horror, Sexual assault, and Rape
acingit13'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Genocide, Torture, Murder, Grief, and Gore
Moderate: Racism and Rape