amirahazhar's review against another edition
- 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
Politics and military strategy play a major role in this story. R.F.Kuang also touched a lot on classism, colorism, colonialism, and the collateral damage of unnecessary wars that span through generations, which I appreciated.
I can't recommend this book enough. To say that I'm blown away would be an understatement, especially owing to the fact that this is R.F. Kuang's debut novel, and she started writing it at 19! So excited to read the rest of this trilogy.
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Blood, Suicide, Racism, Pregnancy, Addiction, Sexual violence, Self harm, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Body horror, War, Violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Child death, Rape, Vomit, Trafficking, Infertility, Grief, Gore, Genocide, and Drug use
lorie266'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Genocide, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, War, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Blood, Classism, Murder, and Physical abuse
marianaribeiro's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Blood, Violence, Sexual assault, Child death, War, Drug use, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Addiction, Death, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail
persephonefoxx'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: Drug use, Addiction, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, War, Murder, Death, Torture, Violence, and Genocide
Moderate: Medical content, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Child death, Colonisation, and Sexual assault
courtn58'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
Graphic: Blood, War, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Addiction, Violence, Hate crime, Classism, Genocide, and Drug use
pickashelf'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
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Drug use, Drug abuse, Rape, Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Genocide, and War
clo_grace1201'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
4.5
Graphic: War, Rape, and Genocide
Moderate: Drug use and Addiction
Minor: Racism and Torture
murielreads's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Violence, War, and Murder
Moderate: Colonisation, Death, Rape, Blood, Genocide, Hate crime, and Torture
Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Abortion, Addiction, Vomit, Slavery, and Drug abuse
bergha1998's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Fantasy, Historical, Found Family
“I believe in gods as a cultural reference. As metaphors. As things we refer to keep us safe because we can’t do anything else, as manifestations of our neuroses. But not as things that I truly trust are real. Not as things that hold actual consequence for the universe.”
“Children ceased to be children when you put a sword in their hands. When you taught them to fight a war, then you armed them and put them on the front lines, they were not children anymore. They were soldiers.”
“It was, simply, what happened when one race decided that the other was insignificant.”
“And if your opponent was not human, if your opponent was a cockroach, what did it matter how many of them you killed?”
“If you were the victim, what could you say to make your tormentor recognize you as human? How did you get your enemy to recognize you at all?”
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, War, Blood, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Gore, Grief, Murder, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Xenophobia, Addiction, Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, and Vomit
geminireader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I don’t know what book I read but it was not anywhere near the 5 star book people have described it as. I really don’t even know where to start. The main character… I feel absolutely nothing. I’m not even sure I could give more than 2 characteristics that describe her. She is simply there to carry the plot as it must follow a character but I feel nothing for her. Others critique that they dislike her… I am jealous of that because at least they feel something. Dislike is more intriguing than nothing at all. Just absolutely no character development. And are her driving pain really isn’t even her own? Maybe if we got to spend time with her at the beginning or had a more compelling backstory but I really have a hard time even feeling bad for her supposedly abusive childhood. So all her “rage” comes off very superficial and egotistical. I would have rather followed Altan who had a more genuine backstory and understandable rage. I can understand plot-wise why Rin is the choice and not Altan but still. The reader pays for that choice. While we’re at it, a critique of this book is that it doesn’t have romance. I’d argue it has something much worse: it has a feeble “will they won’t they” with the main character and someone who is implied to their sibling/at least related. And when I say feeble, I mean FEEBLE. They barely talk. And quite honestly, the fact that there was even a hint of romance in this book really disgusts me considering the content this book contains. There is so much more issue I have with the “characters” in this book (put in quotations because they are so weak) but we’ve hit a good transition into plot time. The content of this book is devastating and unfortunately, the real atrocities of this book aren’t fiction. As you probably know, this book is derived from the second Sino-Japanese war, which was a really heinous time in all of human history. So, I agree with all the other reviews on here saying the reader takes on some heavy trauma. But what bothers me so much about this, is that I felt so emotional reading this content because it is historical and completely inhuman, not because the writing/story/characters or literally anything about this book made me feel that way. Which I guess brings me to a point where I would have felt nothing from this book or story if it hadn’t contained retellings of real events.
In summary (pat on the back if you actually read this), I am greatly disappointed. I was so excited going into this read. And now I feel guilty tearing it down because it’s an East Asian fantasy that has reached high popularity and has added some much needed diversity to the fantasy section (getting a little tired of the Greek mythology retellings over here). But a book still has to be good. And I would argue this book, objectively, isn’t good. If anyone is curious, I will still be attempting the second book as I’ve read it has major improvements on the first. Funny, im trusting those reviews even after the glowing reviews from the first book betrayed me. But alas, this is how badly I want to like this series. Stay tuned.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Torture, Animal death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, War, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Blood, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, and Racism