Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

51 reviews

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

studiolindsay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

This is such a strongly-written series, both character and plot-wise. I almost have no words except, this series is SO GOOD. I strongly encourage reading the content warnings though before deciding to read the series. The second was my favorite of the series because of how well I know the characters by this point. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit and Abortion

phoenixfire's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

ireadinbed's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I am really loving this series. There is so much lovely character work and good description. They aren't exactly lovable. Sometimes they are down right *unlikable* but I still can't stop reading. 

I found the relationships in this book so much better developed and interesting and the action sequences were really fun to read. Plus the ultimate villains are TERRIFYING. 

But I will say I kept feeling like I was missing stuff occasionally. Like stuff that should have been in page was off page or something? But I also read it in three big chunks so could be user error. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Self harm, Blood, and Abortion

fearsparks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is the sequel to The Poppy War. It was just as dark, if not darker, than the first book in this trilogy. And I love it. This section includes spoilers to the first book in the series, The Poppy War.

This book is unpredictable and raw. Many things chocked me and was hard to accept. 

We continue to follow Rin, as she deals with the loss of Altan and adjusts to her new role as commander over the Cike. This book is also filled with war, death and destruction, just as the first. But since we’re already familiar with the world, the world building doesn’t take as big a part in this sequel. We see Rin meeting new people, forming new alliances and forging new friendships. The relationships in this book are so dynamic, and really illustrate who is the “dominant” one or who’s in charge. The writing was also intriguing, and kept dragging me along, making the book impossible to put down. However, I found the middle of the book to be a bit slower and harder to get through. But both before and after, it was a page turner!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Murder

olivialandryxo's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.5

Starting an adult fantasy novel whilst in the middle of a reading slump might not have been my best idea. Despite that, I was immediately immersed in this book, as if there hadn’t been a several month gap between me reading The Poppy War and me reading The Dragon Republic. Kuang masterfully writes complex, morally grey characters, and weaves multiple subplots into a story that’s fascinating despite it’s occasionally slower pacing, also integrating discussions of heavier topics relevant both in Rin’s world and our own. So many mind-blowing things happened in this book, and I look forward to picking up The Burning God as soon as I’m in the mood for fantasy again.

I love Rin and Kitay’s friendship. I loved seeing Venka and Rin become allies and then friends. Rin and Nezha’s dynamic was also very interesting to me. I know this series is a military fantasy inspired by real Chinese fantasy and it isn’t at all focused on romance, but can I just say that there’s SOMETHING going on between those two? Is that just me? While I like the way his character was written, I don’t love Nezha the way I do Rin and Kitay. I’m in a love-hate relationship with him at the moment. I’m excited yet concerned to see what unfolds in the final novel, given that every single review of it I’ve seen just talks about how heart-wrenching it is. I’ll get there eventually.

Representation

• protagonist of color
• some side characters of color

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Medical trauma

Minor: Ableism, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Abortion

janinab's review

adventurous challenging 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, and Blood

tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, and Vomit

Minor: Pedophilia, Slavery, and Dementia

readandfindout's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 4.5 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Genocide, Racism, Self harm, Torture, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal cruelty, Rape, and Suicide