Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Republika Smoka by R.F. Kuang

98 reviews

justaddwater's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

booksmoviesandstories'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Rape, Blood, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexism

leonplaysintheuniverses's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• 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

A lot more action and the powers are used more. I loved it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sierraclimbs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I did not enjoy the first half of this book. It was just the same thing over, and over, and over. War, war, war. I was honestly confused a few times wondering “how could we possibly have moved on so fast to battle just to have the same conflict in a slightly different context” 
But for a second book, overall it was quite good. I’m feeling more & more attached to these flawed characters. Again, very Game of Thrones esque.

You also need to be careful getting attached to characters… like in Game of Thrones

There was also a kinda sorta enemies to lovers thing going on that I loved! It’s refreshing to read something where romance isn’t the primary focus, not even the secondary focus, but is still acknowledged.
I’m so interested to see how this story ends…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Slavery, Vomit, and Alcohol

If you’re here, presumably you’ve read the first book. I would say this second book has moments where it is harsher than the first… more graphic. But if you were able to handle the first book, you should be fine.

margarcia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• 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, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

3.75

So the second book was battle after battle after battle. I really enjoyed the comedic relief parts between friends and I kind of wish this book had more of that. It seemed like this book was full throttle without a break. I would have gladly had less battle scenes for more friendship building. I honestly might feel more connected to the characters. 

However, she does have me still intrigued on how this war ends. I am glad this ended with Rin with some backbone. She got a little annoying to me throughout most of this book. But I totally get character development. 

I am looking forward to reading the last one! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lydiasturges'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

5.0

Oh my god. Oh my god.

Nezah’s betrayal???? I was hoping Rin would have just the tiniest bit of happiness. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted Viasra, but I didn’t expect him to go that far. I’m distraught that Rin and Kitaly will have to go directly against Nezah who I LOVED getting to know this book. Ramsa and the rest of the Cike?? I’m unwell. Rin thinking about allying with the Empress??

 

The constant changing relationships and alliances should have been exhausting to keep track of, but it was such a compelling plot to see how things developed. I genuinely enjoyed this book more than the first book. There was more focus on Rin’s relationships which made the story more enjoyable to me. I never knew where the story because the politics/strategies of war are above me, but I enjoyed always feeling on edge. I felt like this book had more stakes because I was genuinely concerned about whether or not they would succeed multiple times throughout the story. 

The author is just brutal to Rin and what she’s going through. But all of her suffering isn’t gratuitous. It clearly is designed to push her into a dynamic and complex FMC that you can’t help but root for. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, and Religious bigotry

cturn's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, and Alcohol

sxbui5's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

johnathanwet's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I have so much praise for this book but I just finished it and cannot get my thoughts in order yet.

Absolutely phenomenal read. Don’t think I’ve ever read a book that was just so difficult to get through, the brutality is next level.

For later:
- historical context
- bodily autonomy 
- substance abuse 
- reality of war 

I will come back once I’ve finished reeling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism