bepbop's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-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
4.75
racasteria's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
allegrapiccolo's review against another edition
5.0
Idk what I expected but it wasn’t that much heartbreak in 20 pages. Rin pretty much betrayed everyone who loved her. That final fight with her and Kitay was devastatingly emotional. One of the best fantasy series I’ve read. I’m still not sure if Venka was a spy but probably not Rins paranoia drove her mad in the end. It’s sad the way she died, betrayed. Couldn’t be happier with the way it ended in terms of catharsis. The height of Rins power I think is summed up in one sentence:
“I am the end and the beginning. The world is a painting and I hold the brush. I am a god”
Rin is such a great flawed character and I thrived in her hunger for power. But the only limit I drew was Kitay and she broke it.
“Take what you want. I’ll hate you for it. But I’ll love you forever. I can’t help but love you. Ruin me, ruin us, and I’ll let you”. greatest friendship.
I spent most of the book hating Nezha only to feel complete sympathy for him in the end. his and Rin's romance was so heartbreaking. I wish we could have seen more.
All of them were victims who turned brutal because of what they suffered under the empire and its enemies
“I am the end and the beginning. The world is a painting and I hold the brush. I am a god”
Rin is such a great flawed character and I thrived in her hunger for power. But the only limit I drew was Kitay and she broke it.
“Take what you want. I’ll hate you for it. But I’ll love you forever. I can’t help but love you. Ruin me, ruin us, and I’ll let you”. greatest friendship.
I spent most of the book hating Nezha only to feel complete sympathy for him in the end. his and Rin's romance was so heartbreaking. I wish we could have seen more.
All of them were victims who turned brutal because of what they suffered under the empire and its enemies
elileli's review against another edition
3.0
Beware: spoilers ahead.
Excuse me ummm what the fuck was that ending? Why W-H-Y would you chose to end the trilogy like this? What is the point of this whole book if we basically got back to the ending of The Dragon Republic??
I'm sorry, I honestly loved like 90% of this book but the chapters where the Trifecta was killed and the final ones left me with a gigantic ¿PAUSE - QUESTION MARK? in my brain.
First of all, why would you write hundreds thousands of words to describe their difficult AND NEVER-FUCKING-ENDING journey to the mountains to wake up Riga from the Seal only to kill him IN THE SAME CHAPTER!!!!!!!! And then be like "hehehe smart Rin got rid of both Trifecta and Hesperian fleet hehehehe smart smart". Like what was Riga's purpose in all this?????? Being a huge asshole???? And the Trifecta, which are supposed to be the world's strongest shamans, just die with a few bombs? It just felt too easy and rushed.
So now the old shamans are dead, and Rin decides to create new shamans in only like A FEW WEEKS. Because that's how it was explained to us all along, right. Just a couple of weeks, a few poppy seeds, wave your little hand and go with the gods. Nevermind the fact that they're introduced so fucking late in the book and they are basically useless except to, of course, die horrible deaths just to make Rin feel even more guilty.
And that ending, oh my God. I'm not even THAT angry Rin and Kitay died (I suspected + got some spoilers), but it's HOW and WHY they died that just feels utterly DUMB.
I know, I know. It's a realistic ending, and if we take out the fantasy part, it's +/- historically accurate.
But - BUT - this IS a fantasy novel. And I loved that Kuang included their struggle to run the country after the war because THAT'S REALISTIC. But I felt like the story dragged endlessly for hundreds of pages only to rush to the end and make Rin go batshit crazy just for the sake of it. I mean, Venka dies and that's it, not even mentioned again once?????
I get it, Rin is not a hero, obviously, but what is the point of having her doing everything she did in this book - all the fights, the struggle, the pain, the doubts, the character development!!!! - only to kill her so that Nezha can rule ~with~ the Hesperian when he would have done it anyway if this book didn't exist?
Considering this ending, the message I got from this book is this: you can do anything you want - fight, kill, love, hate, commit war crimes, betray your friends, lose anyone and anything - nothing matters. Because it doesn't matter how much you struggle to do it, there are things you cannot change.
I don't know, can't we just collectively decide that chapter 34 does not exist?
Excuse me ummm what the fuck was that ending? Why W-H-Y would you chose to end the trilogy like this? What is the point of this whole book if we basically got back to the ending of The Dragon Republic??
I'm sorry, I honestly loved like 90% of this book but the chapters where the Trifecta was killed and the final ones left me with a gigantic ¿PAUSE - QUESTION MARK? in my brain.
First of all, why would you write hundreds thousands of words to describe their difficult AND NEVER-FUCKING-ENDING journey to the mountains to wake up Riga from the Seal only to kill him IN THE SAME CHAPTER!!!!!!!! And then be like "hehehe smart Rin got rid of both Trifecta and Hesperian fleet hehehehe smart smart". Like what was Riga's purpose in all this?????? Being a huge asshole???? And the Trifecta, which are supposed to be the world's strongest shamans, just die with a few bombs? It just felt too easy and rushed.
So now the old shamans are dead, and Rin decides to create new shamans in only like A FEW WEEKS. Because that's how it was explained to us all along, right. Just a couple of weeks, a few poppy seeds, wave your little hand and go with the gods. Nevermind the fact that they're introduced so fucking late in the book and they are basically useless except to, of course, die horrible deaths just to make Rin feel even more guilty.
And that ending, oh my God. I'm not even THAT angry Rin and Kitay died (I suspected + got some spoilers), but it's HOW and WHY they died that just feels utterly DUMB.
I know, I know. It's a realistic ending, and if we take out the fantasy part, it's +/- historically accurate.
But - BUT - this IS a fantasy novel. And I loved that Kuang included their struggle to run the country after the war because THAT'S REALISTIC. But I felt like the story dragged endlessly for hundreds of pages only to rush to the end and make Rin go batshit crazy just for the sake of it. I mean, Venka dies and that's it, not even mentioned again once?????
I get it, Rin is not a hero, obviously, but what is the point of having her doing everything she did in this book - all the fights, the struggle, the pain, the doubts, the character development!!!! - only to kill her so that Nezha can rule ~with~ the Hesperian when he would have done it anyway if this book didn't exist?
Considering this ending, the message I got from this book is this: you can do anything you want - fight, kill, love, hate, commit war crimes, betray your friends, lose anyone and anything - nothing matters. Because it doesn't matter how much you struggle to do it, there are things you cannot change.
I don't know, can't we just collectively decide that chapter 34 does not exist?
richardganseyiii's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-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
karadactyl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
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
3.5
li_lith's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
enzsch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Although I thoroughly enjoyed the series, I feel like this was a little disappointing as a conclusion. As always RFKs political commentary is flawless and she has a great way of drawing parallels between her world and ours. This makes the story feel substantial even if it is lacking in other areas. My main problem with the book is it feels like a lot of the plot was not well thought through and the story got too big to wrap up in a satisfying way, and the fallout from the final battle felt especially underwhelming. I guess lots of mini plots come and go but it doesn't really feel like the whole story is coherent. I think the character arcs broadly made sense, just not sure if they really fit in with the general plot. I would have enjoyed a bit more of an epilogue as the ending didn't seem quite finished.
Another strong point was the personal relationships between Rin, Nezha, Kitay and Venka which were totally heartbreaking but felt inevitable for their characters and values.
Another strong point was the personal relationships between Rin, Nezha, Kitay and Venka which were totally heartbreaking but felt inevitable for their characters and values.
sholene_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75