Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Płonący bóg by R.F. Kuang

241 reviews

odditiex's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Gore

Moderate: Cannibalism

lizziaha's review against another edition

dark

3.75

This final book in the poppy war trilogy tastes bitter. Ron’s ascent into godhood (because that’s what it is ultimately, the making of a legend, something bigger than life) twists her humanity. It’s a logical progression, an examination of how supernatural power twists the wielder’s humanity. The problem is that in her godhood, Rin is alone. Her power, her ambition, her trust and her betrayals, they’ve all warped her. Her superiority separates her, even her closest relationships become strained. She stops seeing people as human. It’s painfully realistic, and hard to read. It’s a point that needs to be made, and it’s sickening because you (the reader) stop seeing these people as human too. I couldn’t feel anything over the many deaths in this book because I was so stuck in Rin’s head. Characters pop in and out of her warpath so quickly that it’s impossible to connect with them, or even see Rin connect with them. Most of the time, she doesn’t even try. It’s horrifying to realize the conclusion that this book is spiraling towards, tighter and tighter until you feel suffocated by the weight of it. Vicious circles, indeed. Rin doesn’t, can’t, come to this conclusion until the end of the book, thinking, “history moved in such vicious circles.” And I’ll admit, it did take me a bit aback to recognize some of the parallels between Rin & co and the Trifecta. It’s a tough book to rate, because the very things that made me dislike it are the things that make it masterful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Gore, War, and Racism

Moderate: Child death, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Drug use, Body horror, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Minor: Death of parent and Abortion

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

This is a tragedy on all accounts. 600 pages of pain. 

 It really shows how well Kuang understand the human aspect and the tactical aspect of the war that she’s written. it was painful, heartbreaking, has you building empathy and sympathy for characters who are absolute monsters, because you understand what they’ve gone through and their trauma and what shapes them. But it also does not skirt around the fact that what they are doing is also completely unforgivable and evil.
It still has the amazing action sequences, he ramped up to 11. each chapter has amazing dialogue and lessons to be learned. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, War, and Self harm

Moderate: Medical trauma, Genocide, Death, Colonisation, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, and Cannibalism

persephonefoxx's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Xenophobia, War, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Cannibalism, Colonisation, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Genocide, and Torture

Minor: Rape

emlyy_who's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Minor: Cannibalism and Rape

brynalexa'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

For context, I do not normally read war books and this series did not convince me to. That being said, this book was the most compelling. There was not enough evidence to justify a lot of the decisions the characters made about each other. Part one was more of the same of the last two books: a violent, repetitive drag. Part two was just confusion. 

Part three was very fast paced. 

The ending was satisfying and also infuriating. A story about the horror and hopelessness that colonialism is.  Devastating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Body horror, Cannibalism, Drug use, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Confinement, Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Animal death, Child death, Grief, Hate crime, Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic friendship, War, Abortion, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Torture, and Violence

elena_kent's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Cannibalism, Genocide, and Violence

louiserj's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: War, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Violence, Addiction, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Cannibalism and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcoholism

emrosch's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Not as good as the first two books, but still a great conclusion to one of the best – if not the best – historical fantasy book series I've ever read.

It took me a long time to get through it. It started off great and then became SOOOO slow, I honestly just wanted to be done with it after reading about 75%. It felt repetitive and really frustrating (and not in the good way). But that changed with the last couple of chapters, made everything SO worth it. Totally changed my entire opinion about book #3. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Suicide, Blood, War, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Cannibalism, and Rape

Minor: Racism and Panic attacks/disorders

winter2001's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Xenophobia, War, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Colonisation, Cursing, Cannibalism, Genocide, and Torture