Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

149 reviews

blazing_orchids's review

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

hayleyvem'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy

clea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

5.0

This book was soo good (although very painful)! I found it even better than the first book in the trilogy and I'm sooo looking forward to reading the third one! 
The characters are written so authentically, you really think that they are real people. They are flawed, make bad decisions (and are sometimes infuriatingly annoying) but are so inherently human that you can only feel with and root for them. I found Rin's character arc specifically satisfying/fascinating. 
The political intrigues were substantially brought onto the next level in this book and made it so much more engaging and addictive. I especially liked the extremely intricate relationships between the characters. Nothing is simple, nothing is what it seems which is quite realistic and makes you all the more interested. 
Kuang manages to give a perfect balance between emotional, character focused sections and action-packed, epic scenes. You get a deep insight into the protagonists and thus a profound character analysis, but without a lack of suspense and action. 
If you love (dark) high-fantasy, you will adore this trilogy! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

violaceae's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abandonment

veilchen's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Abortion

madlads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Gore, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Alcohol and Colonisation

kirbylover16's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I love Rin's continued growth as a character. She struggles with addiction, how to be a leader, and with just being herself. It took forever but she finally realizes how much she idealized Altan and how she doesn't have to be him. I don't think the love triangle needed to last as long as it did and I don't like the fact that none of the relationships are good and healthy. There's a lot of twists especially as you get to the end of the book some of which land and others that you can see from a mile away. The first book feels more memorable to me but this is still a great read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

Kinda everything...

andromeda_1998's review

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

4.0

I really liked the poppy war and even though I loved this book as well there is a reason the Dragon Republic get 4 stars instead of 5. 

As the people who read my review of the poppy war will know, I love the character and worldbuilding in this series. R.F. Kuang shows us the brutality of war in a really graphic way. And I believe this is the only way to make people see the history of humankind.  A lot of readers have problems with the gruesome depictions of war in this series but this is how war looks like. The most horrendous things have been done in wartime’s and we have to acknowledge the fact that humanity could have been spared a lot of horrors if we would just accept each other. R.F Kuang says it best: “They believe in a singular and all-powerful deity, which means they cannot accept the truth of other gods. And when nations start to believe that other beliefs lead to damnation, violence becomes inevitable.” 

Why did I give this amazing book 4 stars instead of five? The start of this book is slow. At around a hundred pages the story picks up but around 300 pages it falls flat  and I had to fight till around 500 pages in for the plot to pick up again. 

This book could have been better and I feel one of the reasons that this happens is because there isn’t a lot happening between the characters. We don’t really get scenes where they get to know each other. This book focuses on the war talk and the strategy behind fights and sometimes you head just needs a break and some human interaction between characters could do the trick. 

I would still recommend this series though! The books are amazing but before you start reading them check the triggerwarnings! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Miscarriage, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

caregorman's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.0

WAIIITTTT okay I rlly shit on the first book but I must say w this one I’m getting the hype. SO MANY TWISTS IM HEARTBROKEN AND WEEPING. Tip for others w a small pea brain: listen to audio while also reading physically bc I simply couldn’t understand otherwise. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Moderate: Abortion

annettewolf's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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

4.0

From the first chapter I knew I was going to like this book, because it starts with Nezha, and how could you not want to know more about his past, and why he's such a pretentious ass? The characters get new layers, new motivations, new experiences that push their relationships and their sanity to new limits.

I don't know how to write about a protagonist who I kind of hate but also love and feel really conflicted about empathizing with. The people around Rin are sometimes more exciting than Rin herself, but she's the lynchpin. There are characters who I don't believe are dead, and characters who I'm really sad to have seen die, and characters who I wish would go ahead and die already. This book kind of inures you to death, honestly. You start to wonder (and worry) if you could look at war as objectively as Rin and her classmates from Sinegard do.

The writing continues to be excellent, and the story is more complex, bringing more cultures and experiences into the narrative so that we have a full grounding in the world. It's an excellent continuation, and doesn't suffer from the second-book slump that so many trilogies fall prey to. I'm definitely going to read the third book--I just might take a break and read some lighter stuff first. Palette-cleansers are encouraged with this trilogy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Confinement, Abortion, and Murder