Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

104 reviews

sannesbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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, War, Rape, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Sexual violence, Self harm, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

becausebrenna's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

AHHHHHHHHH 
I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning to finish this

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Drug use, and Rape

Moderate: Animal death, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit

Minor: Abortion

winterwoodbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, War, Ableism, Cultural appropriation, Medical content, Pedophilia, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Classism, Excrement, Misogyny, Vomit, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Torture, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual violence, and Slavery

bacook0403's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexism, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Gore, Addiction, War, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Death, Cursing, Colonisation, Child death, and Drug use

kaylaswhitmore's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

Coming straight out of the first book and into this one was very interesting. After the first book’s rather awe-inducing end (

Spoiler

Rin’s use of the Phoenix to completely level an entire curry

) I already anticipated that Kuang would have to find a way to “nerf” Rin in the second book. After all, if it was all just easy wins, nothing would feel very climactic, would it? So, with that in mind, it’s safe to say that the first half of this book was exceedingly frustrating. I don’t mean that in a negative way, but rather, that Kuang found the bruise that conjoined both Rin and the reader and she pushed down, hard. It thoroughly sucked for awhile there, especially considering my standing-critique of Kuang’s writing style that she tends to sum up Rin’s various relationships with a handful of informative scenes but too little transition in-between (imho). This occasionally made those relationships and characters feel a little flat in comparison to the rich intimacy we have within Rin’s character and arc. However, I think that particular flaw took a hard turn for the better around 2/3 through the book (

Spoiler

Rin and Kitay’s bond

). After that point, the emotions, stakes, and overall well-roundedness of every character beside Rin felt much more vivid than before, and Kuang even delved a little deeper in adding casual exchanges here and there that really enriched the dynamics. By the end, I truly felt immersed in this world and found myself longing for exactly what Rin herself is headed towards: purpose. I’m going right into the third and final book now, and hope this journey finds a satisfying end!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Violence, Death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Blood, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Genocide, Gore, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Racism, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Grief, Self harm, Abortion, Alcohol, Cursing, Ableism, Animal death, Gaslighting, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Cannibalism

As with the first book, please check trigger/content warnings before reading.

Spoiler

There is an incident involving a woman being r*ped in the second half of the book that is moderately graphic and could definitely be triggering for some.

geminireader's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Ha! I’m back. You might be thinking “3 stars? That’s an improvement”. Yes and no. The plot interests me, especially with the historical aspect. So was I at least entertained during this book? Yes. But as for the characters… this is the first time I’ve ever rooted for a main character to die. I wish I could bring Rin to life just so I could slap her across the face. She is quite literally the worst person. The only thing she hasn’t done yet is rape someone which by my standards, does not absolve her the least bit from being objectively terrible. Like no one in this series is even remotely good? Or neutral? Or minor oh bad? Everyone is undeniably evil and then turns to the next person and says they are evil. I suppose this is life and historically accurate, but damn. I started to enjoy this book when I pretended there were no characters and I was just reading about historical events. 

What it comes down to, is if you are going to successfully write a morally gray/villainous main character, you should be offering the reader perspective. I like reading those type of characters to learn from different perspectives. But there are some perspectives that truly do not need to be heard or even matter. I do not need to know nor do I have anything to learn from a serial killer other than grotesque fascination. And Rin isn’t even real so nothing of her perspective or truth can be translated to life. She truly just sucks. And I really cannot tell whether the author is doing this intentionally. I guess if this is intentional, pat on the back Kuang. Cause you truly created the worst, most despicable character I’ve ever encountered. 

And *spoiler* can we just talk about how Rin disowns the South to poise as elitest trash when really the South didn’t do anything to her. Her caretaker sucked but that was about it. And then when it conveniences her to start another war, suddenly she going to fight for the South. But actually, she literally said she’s going to send tens of thousands of “bodies” just to basically get back at Nezha. Oh my god, just thinking about that again, I really hope she dies in the next book. Everyone else sucks too but she is truly just garbage. I have nothing to root for. Also, her whole thing with Altan. Weird. Just weird. So anyway, see you after the third book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Racism, Animal death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Murder, Death, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Drug use, Grief, Blood, Gore, and Body horror

ewinnk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Confinement, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Torture, War, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Blood, Addiction, Grief, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

loup's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Blood, Abandonment, Torture, Sexual violence, Animal death, Alcohol, War, Violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Gore, Vomit, Genocide, and Police brutality

mpbookreviews'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Racism, Vomit, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Addiction, Animal death, Confinement, Classism, War, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

thebookaholic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.5

Wow. Like... Holy SHIT WOW!!

I started this a few days ago with the expectation of it taking at least a week or two to finish due to it's length and complexity, but I just finished it in my third sitting by reading 440 pages straight to the end because I didn't want to put it down (and also I was blessed with a day free of any and all responsibilities but still).

I did read the first 50 or so pages a few months ago and dnf'd it because I found it incredible hard to read at the time as I wasn't in the mood for how dark it was. But I picked it back up and found that although that first bit was genuinely hard to read due to the sheer intensity of heavy themes, particularly

Spoiler

Rin's opium addiction

, I felt more prepared for it this time and found that on the other side of that first section, while the heavy themes continued (and how RF Kuang handles them is one of the reasons this book is so incredible) the cast of characters and plot picked up in a way that had me constantly needing to know where the story would go next. It went to places I didn't expect, many places that were hard to read about, and many places that I absolutely loved including the relationships these characters develop both with themselves, and with others; shoutout to

Spoiler

Rin & Kitay's renewed and grown friendship and ANCHOR BOND

. 

I am the opposite of a history buff, and in particular I am woefully uneducated on history outside of North America and Europe (thanks capitalistic white-centered education) so my knowledge of 20th century China is essentially non-existent. Due to that, there is a huge element of this book that I don't feel I can truly speak on, but I do want to mention that the perspective used and the way that historical elements are woven into this fantasy setting, and the unapologeticness in talking about the realities of war, class relations, race relations, geo-politics, and many other topics that are shied away from is incredibly commendable and I thank her for it because honestly, I probably wouldn't know a lot of this if it wasn't set out to me in this way as a starting point. 

Overall, this book is simply an absolutely incredible adult fantasy and if you're interested in getting into something dark, gritty, and wholly complex from plot to characters to religion and other ever-unanswered questions, I highly recommend The Dragon Republic and I for one, cannot wait to read The Burning God to see where this story ends up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, War, Blood, and Classism