Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

La repubblica del drago by R.F. Kuang

26 reviews

hayreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This was a lot less emotionally devastating than the first book, but I really enjoyed it. It felt very fast-paced, and the characters feel real. A great combination of history and fantasy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

chickenmidwife's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

bookishedi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

johnathanwet's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I have so much praise for this book but I just finished it and cannot get my thoughts in order yet.

Absolutely phenomenal read. Don’t think I’ve ever read a book that was just so difficult to get through, the brutality is next level.

For later:
- historical context
- bodily autonomy 
- substance abuse 
- reality of war 

I will come back once I’ve finished reeling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tariana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.75

The only reason I am not giving 5 stars is because from 20 to 60% of the book it was sooooo slow, too much details about sword fights, military strategies, extensive descriptions, which must be great for those that understand it and are into it, but for me it was boring, it was like the story was stuck. The whole thing happened in less than a year for the characters but for me it was like an eternity. In spite of that, the whole book is amazing. At two different moments I had to hold my tears, I have ene highlighted the passages. They were:
62%: “Rin… what am I going to do?”
88%: I heard what you did to that Hesperian soldier.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

alex_salamander's review against another edition

adventurous 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

I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first book but that's not a fault of the writing at all and more personal preferences on how I like character motivation set up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Excrement

Minor: Cannibalism, Abortion, and Pregnancy

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

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

peggy_racham's review against another edition

4.5

Such a goid sequal. Loved the friendship between Kitay and Rin. Getting background on so many characters, Nezha specificly, was so good and needed. Cried at her reunion with her brother. Mind the tw's

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Deportation

meliflowers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.25

I started reading this book a year ago and only finished it now. 

Kuang does not spare details when describing horrific events and actions. It was really hard to get through the graphic writings about the substance use abuse and PTSD. But once I did, the story rapidly moved along. 

The trauma and pain of the characters aren't used as a prop for the story but are actually explored as consequences of war. Through the story, we explore the consequences of war to the mind and to the civilisation, how people with low socio economic status/ racial appearances are always exploited and sacrificed for the seemingly greater good and the role colonialism plays within war. 

I could go on an endless rant to talk about all the aspects of the story which Kuang has clearly constructed carefully and thoughtfully. Some parts of the story did feel redundant (I assume it's meant to be a basis for the next book) and repetitive, however. 

Regardless, it was still a really enjoyable book and although I want to start reading the next one immediately, for my own well-being I decided to wait it out a bit... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Abortion, Murder, War, and Classism

Moderate: Classism

It's a heavy book that describes the consequences of war graphically. I do believe it's a great and insightful read but do be warned of the topics aforementioned.