Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

93 reviews

thebookaholic's review against another edition

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

4.0

WOW what a conclusion to this series!! I'm surprised to say that this was my least favourite of the three books, but it's still a solid 4 star read which imo, says a lot about the series as a whole and Kuang's insane writing abilities.

This book felt so much bigger that the others did, with the plot zooming out in a way that was more distant from the characters and comprehensive of Nikara, and yet I don't think it lost any of the character depth and development. I felt that overall, this book had a few pacing struggles comparatively, especially in the middle section of the book with

Spoiler

the Trifecta

specifically, but I think this conclusion was so so fitting for the story that Kuang was trying to tell. 

After all,

Spoiler

The first rule of the Cike is that they cull, and Rin had already been to the Chuluu Korith...

Would I recommend? ABSOLUTELY

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal cruelty, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Torture, Violence, War, Racism, Animal death, Death, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

marinasjd's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

Moderate: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Death, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Cursing, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide, Child abuse, and Animal cruelty

lena_kellogg's review

adventurous challenging dark 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

3.0

If I’m being totally honest, I was so let down by the ending of this trilogy. I LOVED 95% of this series, but the ending of the final book felt too fast paced, had too many surprises that felt unbelievable, and just fell flat in comparison to how epic the entire story felt. 

Rin has survived two wars, and now a third is looming over the country of Nikara. She returns to her roots and aligns with the newly formed Southern Coalition to protect the people that raised her - and claim the power she desires. She encounters new challenges, adopts new allies, finds new foes, and dedicates herself to the only cause she can trust - her revenge. It’s an exciting culmination of Rin’s story. 

Even with the letdown of the ending, I would still recommend this high fantasy series to anyone looking for detailed worldbuilding, engrossing plot, and morally gray characters in abundance. 

This book seemed to have less graphic violence than the first two (with the first book being the heaviest). There is quite a bit of swearing accompanied with heavy themes. 

The worldbuilding is where this series stands out. Every detail is intricately woven. Extremely nuanced political situations are thrilling and not tedious. The mythology is carefully constructed to be comprehensible yet ethereal. The worldbuilding is a perfect balancing act between completely engrossing and being vast enough that as readers we know we’ll never know everything. 

You might be reading all my praise for this book and asking why I rated it only 3 stars. It really is just the ending. But don’t let that deter you from taking on this absolutely stunning series. I regret nothing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Self harm, Torture, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

0shelfcontrol's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

What an epic end to an epic series. Read this series if you want the characters to feel real to you. I say this because they are all extremely morally grey; sometimes driven by ego and other times duty. I am heartbroken by the series end as well as how it ended, however, I also know that this is the only way it makes sense. It was inevitable, but still there’s that part of me that wishes there was some sort of miracle. I’m still processing, and probably will always be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Colonisation, Addiction, War, Trafficking, Torture, Suicide, Sexism, Self harm, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Child death, Child abuse, Racism, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Animal death, Gore, Drug use, Blood, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Excrement, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Infertility

decie's review

5.0

Spoiler

rin. what the fuck.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and War

vi_rain's review

4.75

Incredible ending to an amazing trilogy! The pacing in this book was excellent, and I felt like there was good balance between battle scenes and everything else happening. Please read trigger warnings!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Slavery, Suicide, Self harm, Death, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Cannibalism, Murder, Animal death, Child abuse, Addiction, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Child death, and Animal cruelty

stitchof's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Rape, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Child death, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Abortion, Addiction, Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, War, and Xenophobia

linneak's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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: Genocide, Gore, Death, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, Colonisation, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Classism, and Suicide

Moderate: Gun violence, Confinement, Eating disorder, Medical content, Xenophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, and Medical trauma

Minor: Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Child death, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Animal death, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Panic attacks/disorders

bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad 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

4.5

In many ways, this is the best book in the series. In others, it is the weakest.

R. F. Kuang's knowledge of colonial history is on full display here, as are her thoughts about colonialism, and those commentaries are a strong and often heartbreaking part of The Burning God.

I will say, however, that I wish that the world had felt larger. It's small in book one because Rin's knowledge of the world is small. It expands in book two. It fails to expand again here. I think there could have been more of a sense of the wider world (or just a sense that more than three countries had ever existed in it, honestly) without cheapening the ending. In fact, I think that the inevitable and heartbreaking ending would have felt even MORE inevitable and even MORE heartbreaking had there been other countries out there somewhere that simply would not or could not get involved in the Nikaran/Hesperian conflict.

Everything is so desperate here, and it somehow keeps getting more so. The problem is that after Golyn Niis and the end of The Poppy War, and after the utter, unending misery of so much of The Dragon Republic, neither the tone nor the content have the capacity to get much darker, and so they kind of don't.

Rin and Kitay's relationship continues to be my favorite thing, and the thing that fascinates me most. Kitay is a character who gives me so much hope, and Rin is a character who gives me so little, and I love how Kuang plays with that dynamic, especially given the nature of their relationship by this point. 

Rin and Nezha are of course compelling as well, and in many ways their conflict and their complex feelings about each other form the centerpoint of the entire series. We certainly get the most of Nezha's perspective here, but I still find their dynamic in The Dragon Republic the most compelling out of the three installments.

I think that the character work and the writing are very strong here, and I'm rating it extremely highly because it did what it set out to do and affected me deeply, but there were just a few things that did not totally work for me, and the experience of reading it was more exhausting than anything else.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Suicide, Death, War, Gore, Drug use, Torture, Rape, Addiction, Body horror, Violence, Murder, Genocide, Child death, Religious bigotry, Cannibalism, Self harm, Colonisation, and Racism

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing 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

4.5

The Poppy War Trilogy caps off in amazing fashion. I hear what others have griped about with this last instalment. However, I loved reading through the further corruption of Rin as the war comes to a climax, where she gets huge victories and crushing literal and moral defeats. Rin gradually losing herself and so many senses of trust and belonging anywhere while persevering through this gruelling conflict is mesmerizing. Also, the way it wraps up definitely must have torn a chasm in readers of the books. Does she make that choice for herself or is it another instance of a female character choosing something to ultimately progress male characters that may not deserve it.

The Dragon Republic was a minor misstep but overall I would give the series a 4-4.5. I actually believe I’ll revisit this book series in the future. R.F. Kuang has a space in my heart as an author to watch. Good thing I already got Babel and Yellowface already for whenever I choose to read them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Slavery, Confinement, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, Hate crime, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Torture, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racism, War, Ableism, Abandonment, Addiction, Child death, Classism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Terminal illness, and Violence

Yes, there are all the triggers. In particular, there’s mob violence because the country is going through famine, illnesses, devastated towns and cities ruined by war and further problems that come about because of governmental instability. It’s all very graphic. This is late stage war. There’s even poisoning of water sources among other things. Basically every issue you can think of with war toward the end of it is here. Brace yourself or read something else.