lea8914lh's review against another edition
- 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
My heart is broken now wie soll ich wieder ne neue Serie anfangen🥲💔😔
Graphic: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Suicide, Toxic relationship, War, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Injury/injury detail
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
- 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
I spent most of this book on an emotional rollercoaster. All... weird feelings, too. Angry and nervous, mostly. There were scenes that made me uncomfortable and when I wanted to throw the book across the room. It was really really good. I was fully engaged at all time. I'm still reeling, though. The Burning God is a unique take on a fantasy war story with intense, disturbing images and a not-exactly-happy ending. Read at your own risk.
That said, I can't recommend this trilogy and The Burning God enough. Absolutely astounding writing, strong characters, heart-wrenching scenes, and thrilling action. It's wonderful.
Graphic: Cannibalism, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Suicide, War, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/injury detail
Moderate: Trafficking, Genocide, Racism, Rape, and Addiction
The islanders of Speer and their descendants are dark-skinned.madisonbell_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: War, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Child death, Drug use, Injury/injury detail, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Classism, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Sexism, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, and Misogyny
ashmo69's review
- 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
Graphic: Torture, Drug use, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death, Colonisation, Gore, War, Blood, Body horror, Genocide, Hate crime, Child death, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, and Drug abuse
Minor: Infertility, Abortion, Chronic illness, Medical content, Vomit, Alcohol, and Cannibalism
zharaa13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
So this book was amazing. Especially the ending, I was wondering how R.F. Kuang would finish a series like this as I always hate when things just are okay and fine once "the good guys" won the war and then everyone is happy and as someone came from a war stricken country I know that isn't the case. I loved the fact that Rin was a bad leader she couldn't possibly be a queen or empress, she was a soldier and soldiers don't stop fighting and turning Rin into a better show Daenerys Targaryen was the best decision.
I was a bit bored midway through but things started escalating fast and towards the end I was on the edge of my seat.
I really wish we knew what happened to kesgi I really felt sorry for him and Kittay deserved better.
Graphic: Gore, Cursing, Genocide, Grief, Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Colonisation, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Animal death, Abortion, and Classism
raiynnn's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Blood, Animal death, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, War, Cursing, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Xenophobia, Body horror, Medical trauma, and Gun violence
shantalia's review
- 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
Graphic: Gore, Classism, Blood, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Genocide, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Cannibalism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Abortion
ro_xox's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Racism, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Blood, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Violence, Death, Drug use, Self harm, and War
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Injury/injury detail, Vomit, and Cannibalism
donatio's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Racism, Abandonment, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Hate crime, Vomit, War, Death, Violence, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Racial slurs, Torture, Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Self harm
lolaslalaland's review
2.0
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!
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