Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

40 reviews

ealasaid_sch'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Violence, Xenophobia, War, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Racism

Moderate: Vomit and Gore

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

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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

kys831's review

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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Xenophobia, Genocide, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Medical trauma, War, Sexual assault, Murder, Death, Violence, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Torture, Rape, Physical abuse, Grief, Colonisation, and Classism

linneak'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Rape, Toxic friendship, Violence, Drug use, Medical trauma, Torture, War, Addiction, Colonisation, Self harm, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Grief, Abortion, and Gun violence

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

allisonmspiers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Confinement, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Rape, Racism, Violence, War, Gun violence, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Classism, Grief, Torture, Ableism, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Abortion, Genocide, Racial slurs, and Alcohol

not listed above: hallucinations, human experimentation, massacres, mutilations

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!

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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

nkookie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gore, Genocide, Addiction, Blood, War, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use

kxerri's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Animal death, Death, War, Violence, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Slavery, Alcohol, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Addiction, and Self harm

Minor: Abortion and Ableism

allenuhh's review

3.0

I feel like the book is solid in a literary sense but grimdark fantasy just isn't for me. It's just hard to get through, I felt similarly about Poppy War. 

Again, not bad just mentally exhausting, I can't marathon these books, I need months between. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Self harm, Violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Pregnancy

toriel_'s review against another edition

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: War, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Blood, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Torture, Rape, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Racism, and Grief

Minor: Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, and Abortion