joepyeweed's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Rin is frustratingly rash and impulsive, but there are consequences for her actions every time (even when I might expect another book to let her off easy). She’s the main character, but is not a hero. I like that.
Graphic: Addiction, Gore, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Murder, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, and War
Minor: Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Torture
faythfarrar's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Body horror, Classism, Addiction, Rape, Self harm, Death, Religious bigotry, and War
persephonefoxx'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: Racism, Death, Addiction, Drug abuse, Violence, War, and Torture
Moderate: Abortion, Genocide, Child death, Confinement, and Colonisation
haleymk'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
Graphic: War, Addiction, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Torture, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
Minor: Death of parent, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts
louiserj's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, War, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Abortion
finn_1312'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
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Torture, Alcohol, War, Sexism, Racism, Religious bigotry, Rape, Blood, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Cannibalism
sannesbooks'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: Addiction, War, Rape, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Sexual violence, Self harm, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
book_lover707'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
I love R.F. Kuang’s writing so much and still found it easy to read, but I did think the first half of the book felt really long. However the second half absolutely slapped. Plot twists, (partial spoiler) betrayal arcs, character development, everything I love and it was devastating at the end. Of course, I still want to read the third book.
Graphic: Violence, Rape, and War
gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I still really liked discussions of politics, war tactics, ethics. It’s a brutal book, it it does not shy away from the fact that power corrupts.
That being said - I think that I can empathize with the character Rin, but I cannot say that I truly like her or condone her actions. Sometimes the book feels like we can gloss over the fact that she kills people because of an innate sense of revenge and does not think of the consequences. Though, the situations that she finds herself in tend to be of the sort that there are no good outcomes, so that is perhaps a moot point.
I think that this was a really good second book in a series, but it did suffer a little little bit of a sophomore, slump in terms of pacing. I think that if this was trimmed down a little or had been split into two books, it would have been better served. I also think that the analogy of the various cultures is a bit more heavy-handed in this one than the last.
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Rape
The only reason that I put the moderate setting for rape as a content warning is because it is flowing around as a term a lot, in reference to things that happened in the past. There is only one in-text acene in particular that I did not consider graphic - a character mentions that they have caught someone in the act, but no description is made just alluded to before that rapist is killed.af3435'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
Graphic: Genocide and War
Moderate: Rape and Miscarriage