Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

71 reviews

unabridged_adventures's review against another edition

5.0

Utterly brutal. This book ripped out my heart and stomped on it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Classism

space_bandit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Genocide, Gun violence, Racism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Torture, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

sorodeeznuts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

edamamika's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

rileysradreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

liaraluiza's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

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

isabellaft's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy

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