Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

81 reviews

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

min_grachi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lizziaha's review

dark

3.75

This final book in the poppy war trilogy tastes bitter. Rin’s ascent into godhood (because that’s what it is ultimately, the making of a legend, something bigger than life) twists her humanity. It’s a logical progression, an examination of how supernatural power twists the wielder’s humanity. The problem is that in her godhood, Rin is alone. Her power, her ambition, her trust and her betrayals, they’ve all warped her. Her superiority separates her, even her closest relationships become strained. She stops seeing people as human. It’s painfully realistic, and hard to read. It’s a point that needs to be made, and it’s sickening because you (the reader) stop seeing these people as human too. I couldn’t feel anything over the many deaths in this book because I was so stuck in Rin’s head. Characters pop in and out of her warpath so quickly that it’s impossible to connect with them, or even see Rin connect with them. Most of the time, she doesn’t even try. It’s horrifying to realize the conclusion that this book is spiraling towards, tighter and tighter until you feel suffocated by the weight of it. Vicious circles, indeed. Rin doesn’t, can’t, come to this conclusion until the end of the book, thinking, “history moved in such vicious circles.” And I’ll admit, it did take me a bit aback to recognize some of the parallels between Rin & co and the Trifecta. It’s a tough book to rate, because the very things that made me dislike it are the things that make it masterful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Cannibalism, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Abortion and Death of parent

gardens_and_dragons's review

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

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

winterwoodbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful slow-paced

• 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 ending was perfect for this amazing series and I loved everything about it.
The character work is immaculate.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

icepoppy's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

i wanted everything to somehow work out and I knew Kuang was too good of an author to let that happen

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Gore and Suicidal thoughts

greciamj1958's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

kesreads13's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• 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

This series was painful and had my least favorite trope of

my dies at the end < / spoiler>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Addiction, Miscarriage, and Abortion

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.