Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Republika Smoka by R.F. Kuang

25 reviews

lynseyye's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

hailsatan's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Classism, and Deportation

praaliine's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

miss kuang has done it again. this book was darker and more tragic than the first. when i thought i knew something, turns out i didn’t. this book really explored the tragedies of war and fighting the wrong enemy. also, r.f kuang ripped out my figurative heart and stomped on it repeatedly…pain…
A fantastic read, as expected.
P.S. watch out for chapter 28 (graphic SA towards the end of the chapter)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

stefy27's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

violetlunablossom's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

I really enjoyed The Poppy War but The Dragon Republic made me love the world and characters that R.F Kuang created even more. It was a little slow for me at the beginning, but it wasn't an absolute slog. Things quickly picked up towards the middle and by the end, I felt like I had ran a marathon because of how fast my heart was beating. Seeing Rin's growth was really rewarding, and while it felt like she was taking one step forward and two steps back most of the time, when she became more level headed and knowledgable of the political games being played, it was fantastic to see. I also developed a newfound love for Kitay! He wasn't really someone who I was that invested in back in The Poppy War, but now that he has a much more prominent role in the storyline, I've come to love him and his sweet demeanor. It really balances out Rin's more fiery temperament.

Su Daji gets a section of her own because my god, she's such an amazingly complex character. She had only two scenes in this book but they were spectacular. Even when she wasn't physically there, her presence took up space in every chapter. You understand why she did the things she did but you also kind of hate her because of all the brutality we saw back in The Poppy War. Out of all the shamans, her powers are definitely the most interesting to me and they really suit her well. I'm so excited to see what kind of role she plays in the final book.

The brutality was definitely upped in this book too. There were multiple scenes that had me setting down my book because of how upset I was, and with the introduction of the Hesperians (who are a fill in for the British), both the racism and physical violence had another layer of grossness. Kuang did a really good job of getting me to hate them, even if it was pretty easy for me to dislike them from the get go.

I'm very excited to tear into The Burning God soon. I've been told to save my tears for that one so I'll be buying a box of tissues before I start reading it.

REBECCA HOW DARE YOU MAKE THE CIKE SUFFER. YOU TORE MY HEART OUT WITH QARA'S DEATH BUT BAJI AND SUNI TOO??? I had to take a snack break because of how upset I was

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Racism, Rape, Violence, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Genocide, and Mental illness

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, and Abortion

imanqblake's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Fantastic sequel! I loved the progression of Rin's trauma and dependency (to various outlets)! I admire how unashamed how these brutal war scenes are shown, and how the characters are both numb and sympathetic towards it. The ending had me in a chokehold haha! Definitely wasn't expecting that turn (in hindsight I should've lol) but yes, will come back for more especially after that ending. Can't wait to read the last book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

cemeterygay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Cannibalism

Additional CW: Scientific racism, Christian imperialism, and colorism

perseffable's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Abortion, and Pregnancy

aehist's review against another edition

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, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail