Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Burning God, by R.F. Kuang

100 reviews

justlilah's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

Never again in my life will i find something like this. Never again will a book leave me so thoroughly devastated. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, War, Xenophobia, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexism, Self harm, Racial slurs, Murder, Death of parent, Violence, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Animal death, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Physical abuse, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Body shaming, Injury/injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Genocide, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Rape, Racism, Hate crime, Colonisation, Misogyny, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

jscraig924's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual violence, and War

killjoycatlady's review

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

5.0

This book is the culmination of  a heartwrenching tale of a country ravaged by war told through the eyes of a desperate young girl. It’s morally grey and there’s no true right or wrong. The author creates a rich and complex world and while the countries are analogs of real world cultures, it’s not cliched or stereotypical or even a 1:1 comparison. It is depicts nuanced perspectives of xenophobia, racism, and imperialism. The plot is full of political maneuvering and military strategy, and it’s extremely grounded, gritty, and realistic even when dealing with topics like ancient gods and magic. There are no real winners here. I’d recommend this book to anyone who can deal with its brutal violence.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Drug abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Violence, War, Injury/injury detail, Torture, Sexual violence, Death, Racism, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Rape

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

lattefairies's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Rape, Racism, War, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Addiction, Torture, and Sexual assault

booktalkwithrae's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad 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

4.5

Although I absolutely love the conclusion of this trilogy, I did find out a few scenes in the middle of the book were rushed, and there were parts that I felt slightly unsatisfied. But in terms of the main storyline, the main characters story, and the writing, it was phenomenal!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence

lolaslalaland's review

challenging dark slow-paced

2.0

 The final installment in the Poppy War Trilogy. A young girl fighting a war on multiple fronts: civil, foreign, mental, spiritual and physical. 

Pros: 
✅ historical parallels 
✅ impactful themes of war and the crimes and brutality that follow it 
✅ strong atmosphere of pain and suffering across an entire nation 

Cons: 
❌ very little character development. they mainly felt like chess pieces moved around or added to progress the war 
❌ massive pacing issues... no down time! it's just war, war, war, war. no time to build any kind of connections 
❌ magical elements were virutally useless and lead to nothing SPOILER:

Spoiler

So much hype for the Triad just for them to all get defeaeted at the top of a mountain byt eh same army their thought they could defeat with just the three of them... so incredibly disappointed and what a waste of time throughout the entire trilogy.

 
❌ a well written unlikeable character but who is incredibly infuriating in her stupidity! She somehow always ends up in the same situation over and over and over again... I needed something new to happen at least once. 

What I want to end this review with is that I am glad I read the trilogy because the themes it brings up are important and to have them in a "fantasy" setting lets the author explore them more deeply and with less limitations, but I also think this trilogy tried to do too much theme building and not enough story and character development. Perhaps R.F. Kuang is not the author for me. I will still read her standalone Babel though and find out! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Rape, Death, Sexual violence, Blood, Gore, War, Torture, Religious bigotry, Body horror, Sexual assault, Racism, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Child death, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

ellenisntcool's review

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Physical abuse, Injury/injury detail, Rape, Body horror, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexism, Emotional abuse, War, Murder, Violence, Self harm, Xenophobia, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Colonisation, Child death, and Blood

Moderate: Blood, War, Animal death, and Vomit

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.

---

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

alicelalicon's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

sunsetcity's review

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Animal death, Classism, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Racism, Rape, Vomit, War, Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Drug use, Injury/injury detail, Sexual assault, Addiction, Cannibalism, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Torture