Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Im Zeichen der Mohnblume - Die Erlöserin by R.F. Kuang

80 reviews

icy_queen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Slavery, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Infertility and Abortion

chasinggrace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

potion96's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

pagesihavenotyetread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

izzywoo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cannibalism

hailstorm3812's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

God forbid a woman do anything (or I suppose god bidden and human decency is forbidding it). Really interesting book but it is just so bleak. I loved Venka and how she developed in this book rather than being used as a trauma prop. It was a really interesting arc for Rin, even if it was horrible to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Toxic friendship, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Genocide, Racism, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.5

This is a tragedy on all accounts. 600 pages of pain. 

 It really shows how well Kuang understand the human aspect and the tactical aspect of the war that she’s written. it was painful, heartbreaking, has you building empathy and sympathy for characters who are absolute monsters, because you understand what they’ve gone through and their trauma and what shapes them. But it also does not skirt around the fact that what they are doing is also completely unforgivable and evil.
It still has the amazing action sequences, he ramped up to 11. each chapter has amazing dialogue and lessons to be learned. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

Moderate: Death, Genocide, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

Minor: Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Cannibalism

brynalexa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.25

For context, I do not normally read war books and this series did not convince me to. That being said, this book was the most compelling. There was not enough evidence to justify a lot of the decisions the characters made about each other. Part one was more of the same of the last two books: a violent, repetitive drag. Part two was just confusion. 

Part three was very fast paced. 

The ending was satisfying and also infuriating. A story about the horror and hopelessness that colonialism is.  Devastating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

loup'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Sexual harassment

mreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I have no idea where to begin when thinking about the Poppy War Trilogy. Of course it's easy enough to say "talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same" but that just doesn't seem to fully encompass it. 

R.F Kuang has absolutely become a favorite author. Her use of fantastical magic with the unfortunate, brutal truths of history have raised the bar for the subgenre over all. The heartbreak that I feel in the wake of finishing this series is hard to put into words. But all the same I'm grateful to feel it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, and Classism

I have no idea where to begin when thinking about the Poppy War Trilogy. Of course it's easy enough to say "talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same" but that just doesn't seem to fully encompass it. R.F Kuang has absolutely become a favorite author. Her use of fantastical magic with the unfortunate, brutal truths of history have raised the bar for the subgenre over all. The heartbreak that I feel in the wake of finishing this series is hard to put into words. But all the same I'm grateful to feel it.