winterwoodbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The character work is immaculate.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Genocide, Murder, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Child death, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Trafficking, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Medical trauma, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Self harm, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Vomit, and War
greciamj1958's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Mental illness, Slavery, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Misogyny, and Racism
kesreads13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Spoiler
my dies at the end < / spoiler>Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Death, Racism, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Gore, and Mental illness
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Abortion, Addiction, and Miscarriage
kaylaswhitmore'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
First, my praise for TBG… Where in the previous two books I felt like some of the relationships lacked the time required to endear me to them, this one absolutely flipped that upside down. In particular, I found that the party’s with Rin and Kitay were some of my favorite. Kuang really found such a tender and beautiful balance between love and friendship with those two, and the adamantly platonic aspect to their bond was a welcome one. In turn, Rin and Venka’s relationship was both inspiring and heartbreaking (if you’ve read it, you’ll understand), and I never would have predicted it becoming so strong. That, paired with Jiang’s final moments, really elevated my investment in Rin’s emotional character building (ironically enough).
Nezha and Rin on the other hand…. Fuck, man. What a twist in the gut. I’ll be honest, the optimist in me was really rooting for them even tho the pessimist in me saw the parallels coming a mile away. Even still, it was a gut wrenching way to close out the series and I honestly couldn’t see it ending any differently. That hurts to say, but I do think that the strength of Kuang’s writing is that she created a deliciously complex main character. When I loved her, I LOVED her, and while I never hated her, I couldn’t help but cringe at her lack of foresight at times.
That brings me to my critiques. As a whole, I think this is a super well-thought out trilogy, especially considering Kuang was only 19 when TPW was published and 23 when TBG was published! Insane! However, I do feel that my biggest issue with the series is that it presented such a deeply painful world with too little reprieve. It’s not that I think she needed to soften the pain, but that she might have added more little joys and moments that allowed us to understand why anyone would ever want to keep living in this world lol. Sometimes, the best way to set up a tragedy is to surround it with comedy or lightness, and I personally felt that her endless strings of tragedy throughout the series led me to a jadedness of emotion—such that the ending lacked some of its potential “punch.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I still cried haha, but I think it could have made me sob if I had actually believed that any of them could achieve a happy ending. But aside from that, the only other issues I had were perhaps differences of writing style—which is of no fault of Kuang. Just simple preference.
All in all, I think this book alone had a wonderful richness of tone and a stunningly heartbreaking narrative. I will most definitely reread it in the future and hope others take on this world as well. It certainly left me much food for thought, and I thoroughly enjoyed the mythical and tragic telling of Rin Fang’s life. Then again, Im always a sucker for female rage represented well ;)
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, War, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Colonisation, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Confinement, and Cursing
janedoelish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Torture, Cannibalism, Colonisation, and Death
laughingkatana's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Spoiler
the marching and travel of war troops was clearly established in all three books, but this one took it to another level and it dragged on and on at times.Spoiler
In other moments it felt like large climactic moments were brushed quickly to the side and made me question their importance to the story entirely.Spoiler
It honestly feels like if Rin, Nezha, and a large majority of the main chracters never existed the story would've ended the same way. It doesn't feel like they had any impact in the long run.Graphic: Violence, Gore, Addiction, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Torture, Animal death, Confinement, Drug use, Grief, War, Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, and Religious bigotry
peggy_racham's review against another edition
4.75
the end and the beginning. The world is a painting and I hold the brush. I
am a god."
Did I stare at a blank space for 10 min after finishing the book? Yes I did. An amazing ending to a briliant debut trilogy.
Graphic: Abortion, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Gore, Toxic friendship, War, Body horror, Death, Child death, Addiction, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Blood, Cannibalism, Genocide, and Medical trauma
ewinnk's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, War, Body horror, Cannibalism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
mpbookreviews's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Self harm, Torture, Alcohol, Grief, War, Blood, Violence, Genocide, Medical content, Animal death, Child death, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Vomit, Gore, Rape, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail
_justjess's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.25
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Sexual assault, Addiction, Murder, Rape, Violence, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Torture, Racism, Cannibalism, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, and Vomit