Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Dragon Republic, by R.F. Kuang

32 reviews

allenuhh's review against another edition

3.0

I feel like the book is solid in a literary sense but grimdark fantasy just isn't for me. It's just hard to get through, I felt similarly about Poppy War. 

Again, not bad just mentally exhausting, I can't marathon these books, I need months between. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Self harm, Violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Pregnancy

toriel_'s review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Blood, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Torture, Rape, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Racism, and Grief

Minor: Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, and Abortion

faroroshae's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Loved this book. It tore my emotionless heart into pieces, just what I needed. An all nighter well spent. Now I will sleep.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Confinement, Vomit, Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Murder, Classism, Gaslighting, Blood, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Death, Racism, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Child death, Violence, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Addiction, Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Alcoholism, and Miscarriage

jules44's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

This sequel starts slow but builds into a war epic that rivals the first book in this series. The rich lore, conflicted character motivations, and the horrifying historical recounts of war made this story difficult to put down. Grotesque and hopeless, but an incredibly important work of fantasy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Rape

itszuri's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Child death, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Death of parent, Injury/injury detail, Xenophobia, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Cursing, Rape, War, Torture, Sexual violence, Racism, Drug abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Forced institutionalization

kbremer23's review against another edition

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Abandonment, Addiction, Classism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Infertility, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Alcohol

chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Rape, War, Kidnapping, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic friendship, Classism, Violence, Misogyny, Confinement, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Ableism, Pregnancy, Addiction, Drug abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Minor: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Genocide, Excrement, and Cannibalism

rnbhargava's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

3.75

The book is quite strong for much of it. However, in the tail end with excessive large battle scenes you lose a lot of the excellent character dynamics of more one on one battles, conversations and interrogation scenes that are Kuang’s strong suit. The Dragon Republic is strongest when focused on character dynamics in the face of the greater war politics. The inequalities and bigotries shown by different groups is quite prevalent throughout the book. Rin’s self hate toward her ethnicity is quite apparent through the narrative too. The book does a really good job of showing that all supposed great leaders ultimately have selfish interests. Some of the added backstory elements are really intriguing. The real life historical background references are very apparent if you know your stuff but it’s also got enough of a veneer of fictionalizing if you don’t. This middle book is a slight step back from “The Poppy War” but not by much and it’s mostly due to pacing hiccups. Please note the role that alcohol and drug use plays in the narrative if you are sensitive to such content. There’s a lot of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Alcohol, Body horror, Body shaming, Classism, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Bullying, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, and War

pridiet's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Toxic friendship, Murder, Injury/injury detail, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug abuse

moooooshell's review

adventurous challenging 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Classism, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, War, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Rape, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Self harm