Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

83 reviews

jessicaludden's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

“So do not shirk from war, child. Do not flinch from suffering. When you hear screaming, run toward it.”

This book had me stressed the ENTIRE time. I’m still stressed. I never knew how Rin was gonna get out of any of those situations. I still don’t, but I am sooo pumped for the next book. This was so good. The war and politics, the power struggles, and the PAIN. Rin finally realized that Altan was no hero and effectively moved on from him. R.F. Kuang did an amazing job portraying Rin’s love and disdain for Altan as she let go of him and refused to let him have anymore power over her. The way this book ended had me screaming with excitement. Rin was betrayed. Again. But this time she’s taking matters into her own hands. She’s finally not taking orders from anyone else and I am SO here for it. Overall, this series continues to live up to expectations and I cannot wait for the finale.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Vomit, War, Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Abortion, Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Classism, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Miscarriage

myk_yeah's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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

5.0

This book kept me on the edge of my seat, so many twists and turns and it was a very exciting read. Somehow loved it even more than the first book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Torture, Racism, Self harm, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Body horror, and Abortion

Minor: Medical trauma and Colonisation

tkhenry99's review against another edition

3.75

rin continues to be absolutely insufferable for 650 pages. the side characters are all immensely more interesting and pleasurable to read about.

Spoiler

such a shame rin avoids chaghan like the plague for most of the book and then he fucks off to the tundra for the rest of it

the plot lines started getting a little redundant by the end.

Spoiler

it’s literally just “this government is evil!” about literally every government in the series—first the mugenese, then the empress, then the hesperians/republic

Spoiler

also i get the whole brutalities of war thing but writing out/killing off literally everyone in cike except rin and chaghan (only bc he’s literally not in arlong) was a bit frustrating

also confused about what happens to the cike’s addictions….? the book explains rin’s but are we just supposed to assume everyone else had the same experience….? rin never asks them about it…..? 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Xenophobia, Self harm, War, Addiction, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Gore, Grief, and Murder

melvin02's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Violence, and War

stitchof's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Abortion, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Child death, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gore, Hate crime, Medical content, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, War, Deadnaming, Death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, and Xenophobia

fareehareads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.5

I only knocked down half a star because some of my favs perished in this book, but rest assured, this is a 5 star book. This is a game of thrones level, politically complex, brutal, sprawling epic fantasy and I'm so glad I'm on this journey. Fang Runin has got to be one of the most compelling fantasy protagonists I've met in a long time. I disagree with so many of her conclusions, but I root for her cause anyway because I know what drove her there. The provinces and their complicated relationships, the difficult choices made to end the Empress' reign, all the stakes being so high and of course Rin's life is always in the middle of it all, it's beautifully done. I get her anger, I want her to burn the world, but I also feel terribly sympathetic for her. It crushes me how many times she was see as less than human (the line 'I am not a dog.' was said more than once) and how even her closest friends looked down. Even now I don't believe she has a single living ally that I trust 100% (minus Kitay, he's proven himself. kind of.) It's incredibly maddening but it furthers her cause to ultimately burn all of it to the ground and I for one can't wait to watch her do it. The next part of this review is all a spoiler. 

Spoiler

Okay now for the pain. wowowowow the deaths were harsh and I knew they were coming but they still hurttt. Nezha STABBING her at the very end was not okay and I should have seen it coming because I didn't trust the boy for one second during the entire book, but I know Rin did and THAT is what hurts. All of these men that she either looks up to, loves, or admires always let her down so profoundly that she has no choice but to be her own support system. Makes me want to hug her.
Jinzha's death was great, super satisfying.
Qara's death I could see coming from a mile away since she got lines for the first time the whole series, but I like the little moment where she told Rin that she wasn't overpowered by Chagan she was simply in the spiritual world, that was nice. Ramsa, Suni and Baji's deaths were just unfair. They should have gotten a watery end in battle instead of on a chopping block. It also felt a bit cheap to me since it was acknowledged earlier that if the Hesperians knew that they were shamans maybe they would have been spared (tortured for sure, but with potential of a jail break). But it looks like the whole Cike plotline is being burned as a part of Rin's past. Chagan being the last among them is still annoying to me. All the annoying men in this that keep not dying sucks so much.

Overall this book is such a painful and incredible journey. I highly recommend it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Confinement

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Death, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Sexual violence

Minor: Bullying and Toxic relationship

caelinsullivan's review against another edition

slow-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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexism, Torture, Rape, Physical abuse, Gore, Classism, War, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Genocide, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Ableism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Death, Confinement, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Medical content, Colonisation, and Blood

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, and War

Moderate: Xenophobia, Colonisation, Gore, Child death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Classism, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, and Murder

Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, and Torture

njthk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

THIS WAS SO GOOD AND HEARTBREAKING AS ALWAYS.
Again a whole lot of politics, something I know people may dislike, because it makes this book lengthy, but I think it fit perfectly.
Great expansion of the world building.
I'm just afraid of what's going to happen next.

Spoiler

Loved Rins characterization, especially the slow deterioration of her psyche. Great representation of panic attacks, I could literally feel her spiraling.
The Hesperians.
Their beliefs were just scary and painfully familiar.
And all the other Characters were great too. Especially Kitay.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, War, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Gore and Suicide attempt

yuzu_149's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

The 2nd book doesn't disappoint! This was a really addictive read and I kept picking it up even the book is quite long. Like the first book though, the Dragon Republic still has a bit of issues with pacing, and I feel like it's more obvious here. I understand that she was building the world up with the necessary details, but the middle half took a while to get through. The first part where Rin struggled with the consequences of her actions from book 1 before she finally pulled herself together was also a bit tough to read. 

I still enjoyed the themes covered in this book a lot. The betrayals of various characters were beautifully written. Characterisation was done well here, and I liked how the friendships Rin had with her old classmates was explored more here. Kuang is ruthless when it comes to killing off our beloved characters though hahaha. 

If you're someone who enjoys intricate details about history, military strategy, naval battles, colonisation etc woven nicely into the storyline, you'll enjoy this a lot!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Blood, Sexual assault, War, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Colonisation, Grief, Murder, Racism, Drug use, Cursing, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Slavery, Suicide, and Suicide attempt