Reviews tagging Mental illness

The Burning God, by R.F. Kuang

35 reviews

lanid's review

adventurous dark sad tense

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Body horror, Cannibalism, Suicide, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Xenophobia, Drug use, and War

Minor: Gun violence, Mental illness, Alcohol, Excrement, Addiction, Forced institutionalization, and Rape

chaoticnostalgia's review

dark sad tense fast-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

Spoiler

I don't know where to begin. Kuang is an excellent writer and creator of characters. I fell in love with Chen Kitay and his bond with Rin was the most moving aspect of the story. Rin's ending felt fitting, inevitable, and unsettling. It feels so cruel that Nezha is the only surviving character out of the dozen or so we came to love. He was so well written, but I wish more was done with his character ultimately. The third installment felt so very rushed and frustrating at times. I'll be thinking about this for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Gore, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, War, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Pregnancy and Abortion

albernikolauras's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I am glad I finished this series, but this was a jarring ending to a jarring series. The series conclusion picks up close to where the previous book left off, and Rin has a series of difficult decisions ahead of her as she prepares to confront her enemies.

I understand this series is watching Rin devolve into a villain and she is in situations where she doesn't have any good choices to make. But it is incredibly frustrating watching Rin ignore logic for paranoia and seem to forget the majority of her miltary training. And, just when you think the book should be over, you have 25% more of the book left to follow her further recede.

I think that there is a lot of amazing discussions and interesting uses of history, but the pacing of this book (and the series overall) has not worked for me and Rin's flashes of brilliance aren't enough to convince me that she should have made it as far as she did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, War, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Injury/injury detail, Genocide, Self harm, Rape, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Slavery, Physical abuse, and Gore

arisaenz's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

I tend to be able to finish a book of this length within 2 days... this one took me a little over a month. This book (really this series) demands your attention and emotions and everything you have to give to it. Every second I was not reading this book I was thinking about it and the things it was telling me to look at and observe in the world. So many POC have such a similar story for their country and this makes you not only feel incredibly seen and understood but makes you take a good hard look at how the things that happened to your country left such long lasting scars in you and your family and how you responded. This isn't a book/series for just anyone. It is a very difficult read emotionally and mentally. I took breaks because it would begin to feel so overwhelming, but man was it worth every second. Rin is not easy to love but man so I hold her so close to my heart. I will for sure be going back for a more in depth reread at some point. For not I still feel the weight of this book on my chest and will probably be constantly thinking back to it's themes over the next few months.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gore, Religious bigotry, Violence, Toxic friendship, War, Racism, Physical abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use and Gaslighting

Minor: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

cemeterygay's review

dark emotional 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Cursing, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Violence, Alcoholism, War, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Grief, Rape, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

Additional CW: Colorism and Implication of incestuous feelings

bookhoe1's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Racism, Xenophobia, War, Torture, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury

readandfindout's review

dark emotional medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 4.5 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Grief, Sexual violence, Self harm, Animal death, Injury/injury detail, Confinement, Mental illness, Addiction, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Body horror, Genocide, Torture, Blood, War, Child death, Racism, Rape, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, Murder, Colonisation, and Xenophobia

livreads16's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

This was a great series. The characters were great. Rin is a fucking masterpiece. The plot was amazing. The pace was good. 

I did not love the ending. I just really didn’t like how

Spoiler

bitch boy Nezha brought down the god that is Rin. It wasn’t fair. Like everyone fucking died??!? … I get it, it’s poetic: fire and water don’t mix, but like either have them end up together or have Rin kill Nezha. He deserved to die for stabbing her in the back (litterally). Also like then I have to read a chapter at the end from his POV about how much he loved her and how much it hurt him to destroy her like bitch?!? Then don’t do it ?!?! Wow if only there was an easy solution like ughhhh. Usually I’m a sucker for enemies to lover but this was not it.

this book really was amazing. Like my real only problem was the ending. Also I wanted more of the found family Cike thing. I absolutely loved that in the first book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Medical trauma, Injury/injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Colonisation, Cannibalism, Death, Animal death, Sexual violence, Genocide, Xenophobia, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Grief, Drug use, Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, Racism, Torture, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Vomit, Violence, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Classism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Infertility

serena_hien's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-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: Blood, Cursing, Xenophobia, Injury/injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Grief, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, War, Classism, Colonisation, Cannibalism, Child death, Medical content, Gore, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Excrement, and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Rape, and Genocide

middumullu's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.0

still really enjoyed it but i think by this point i had gotten a bit tired of all of the same circles that have been happening over the past few books. still really enjoyed the characters

Spoiler

but i missed them all being together all the time,

and i felt like some of the newer characters were a lot less fleshed out. i think i liked the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Excrement, Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Rape, Self harm, Death, Medical content, Sexism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Vomit, War, Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Violence, Colonisation, Cursing, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Cannibalism, Torture, Ableism, and Abandonment

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

again there was so much goin on in here that it is hard to remember in totality if something should be graphic/moderate/mild. for instance - there isn't as much medical content/trauma in this book as there were in others but it was mentioned several times and (to me) clearly informs character's actions (as do many of these tags). theres a scene where the characters visit a town that has been taken over by the west/Hesperians .