kaylaswhitmore's review against another edition
- 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
First, my praise for TBG… Where in the previous two books I felt like some of the relationships lacked the time required to endear me to them, this one absolutely flipped that upside down. In particular, I found that the party’s with Rin and Kitay were some of my favorite. Kuang really found such a tender and beautiful balance between love and friendship with those two, and the adamantly platonic aspect to their bond was a welcome one. In turn, Rin and Venka’s relationship was both inspiring and heartbreaking (if you’ve read it, you’ll understand), and I never would have predicted it becoming so strong. That, paired with Jiang’s final moments, really elevated my investment in Rin’s emotional character building (ironically enough).
Nezha and Rin on the other hand…. Fuck, man. What a twist in the gut. I’ll be honest, the optimist in me was really rooting for them even tho the pessimist in me saw the parallels coming a mile away. Even still, it was a gut wrenching way to close out the series and I honestly couldn’t see it ending any differently. That hurts to say, but I do think that the strength of Kuang’s writing is that she created a deliciously complex main character. When I loved her, I LOVED her, and while I never hated her, I couldn’t help but cringe at her lack of foresight at times.
That brings me to my critiques. As a whole, I think this is a super well-thought out trilogy, especially considering Kuang was only 19 when TPW was published and 23 when TBG was published! Insane! However, I do feel that my biggest issue with the series is that it presented such a deeply painful world with too little reprieve. It’s not that I think she needed to soften the pain, but that she might have added more little joys and moments that allowed us to understand why anyone would ever want to keep living in this world lol. Sometimes, the best way to set up a tragedy is to surround it with comedy or lightness, and I personally felt that her endless strings of tragedy throughout the series led me to a jadedness of emotion—such that the ending lacked some of its potential “punch.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I still cried haha, but I think it could have made me sob if I had actually believed that any of them could achieve a happy ending. But aside from that, the only other issues I had were perhaps differences of writing style—which is of no fault of Kuang. Just simple preference.
All in all, I think this book alone had a wonderful richness of tone and a stunningly heartbreaking narrative. I will most definitely reread it in the future and hope others take on this world as well. It certainly left me much food for thought, and I thoroughly enjoyed the mythical and tragic telling of Rin Fang’s life. Then again, Im always a sucker for female rage represented well ;)
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, War, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Colonisation, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Confinement, and Cursing
laughingkatana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Spoiler
the marching and travel of war troops was clearly established in all three books, but this one took it to another level and it dragged on and on at times.Spoiler
In other moments it felt like large climactic moments were brushed quickly to the side and made me question their importance to the story entirely.Spoiler
It honestly feels like if Rin, Nezha, and a large majority of the main chracters never existed the story would've ended the same way. It doesn't feel like they had any impact in the long run.Graphic: Violence, Gore, Addiction, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Torture, Animal death, Confinement, Drug use, Grief, War, Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, and Religious bigotry
brainrot_197's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Confinement, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Xenophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, War, Rape, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Drug abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder
quill88's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Classism, Murder, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Toxic friendship, War, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Cursing, Drug use, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Alcohol, Animal death, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Slavery, Cannibalism, Confinement, and Pandemic/Epidemic
decie's review against another edition
5.0
Spoiler
rin. what the fuck.Graphic: Gore, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and War
stitchof's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Rape, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Child death, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Abortion, Addiction, Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, War, and Xenophobia
linneak's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Death, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, Colonisation, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Classism, and Suicide
Moderate: Gun violence, Confinement, Eating disorder, Medical content, Xenophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, and Medical trauma
Minor: Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Child death, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Animal death, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Panic attacks/disorders
rnbhargava's review against another edition
- 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
The Dragon Republic was a minor misstep but overall I would give the series a 4-4.5. I actually believe I’ll revisit this book series in the future. R.F. Kuang has a space in my heart as an author to watch. Good thing I already got Babel and Yellowface already for whenever I choose to read them.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Slavery, Confinement, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, Hate crime, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Torture, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racism, War, Ableism, Abandonment, Addiction, Child death, Classism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Terminal illness, and Violence
Yes, there are all the triggers. In particular, there’s mob violence because the country is going through famine, illnesses, devastated towns and cities ruined by war and further problems that come about because of governmental instability. It’s all very graphic. This is late stage war. There’s even poisoning of water sources among other things. Basically every issue you can think of with war toward the end of it is here. Brace yourself or read something else.codifyy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Xenophobia, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Violence, and War
Moderate: Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, and Torture
Minor: Slavery and Self harm
faraway_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"Let them think of us as dirt, Rin thought. She was dirt. Her army was dirt. But dirt was common, ubiquitous, patient, and necessary. The soil gave life to the country. And the earth always reclaimed what it was owed."
"And she still loved him. She’d never stop. But that didn’t matter.You’ve abandoned me, she thought as he wept with relief into her shoulder. You thought you could fool me, but I know your soul. And if you’re not with me, you’ll burn, too."
Graphic: Abandonment, Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Addiction, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, and War