Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

72 reviews

marah's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

I loved this book!! Rin’s character development was so satisfying to see. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Self harm, Slavery, Vomit, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Abortion, and Death of parent

I think that because of these topics, this book had potential to fall into trauma-porn territory but it definitely did not. R.F. Kuang writes about this material very well.

BUT ALSO THE DUMPLINGS PART WAS SO FUCKED UP

alexdicanio's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Wow. Oh my god. I am speechless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

major_tom's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

Haha, I didn't expect this. Maybe I haven't read that many books of this sort, but I found it AMAZING. Yes, I was sad A LOT, but I just loved how Rin developed as a character. It felt natural, realistic even. She's not some ideal smartass, she's an arrogant, wild and impulsive girl full of PTSD and trauma. 

I am scared and excited for the journey ahead!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Genocide, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Colonisation

Minor: Rape

jelloreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and War

shantalia's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, War, and Classism

kbremer23'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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, and Classism

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Alcohol

chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition

dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cursing, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Excrement, and Cannibalism

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

3.75

The book is quite strong for much of it. However, in the tail end with excessive large battle scenes you lose a lot of the excellent character dynamics of more one on one battles, conversations and interrogation scenes that are Kuang’s strong suit. The Dragon Republic is strongest when focused on character dynamics in the face of the greater war politics. The inequalities and bigotries shown by different groups is quite prevalent throughout the book. Rin’s self hate toward her ethnicity is quite apparent through the narrative too. The book does a really good job of showing that all supposed great leaders ultimately have selfish interests. Some of the added backstory elements are really intriguing. The real life historical background references are very apparent if you know your stuff but it’s also got enough of a veneer of fictionalizing if you don’t. This middle book is a slight step back from “The Poppy War” but not by much and it’s mostly due to pacing hiccups. Please note the role that alcohol and drug use plays in the narrative if you are sensitive to such content. There’s a lot of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

fedekanejbrainrot's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative 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

my favourite book in the series, loved the plot, the themes, the characters and relationships growth, and that last 3 chapters?  illegal

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail