Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Burning God

I don't have the words yet for what the end of this book did to me !
But omg it was incredible ! I can't believe what happened and yet it made so much sense !
Rebecca Kuang is definitely a genius and a very talented author!!!
This series was brutal but 100% worth it ! The reflection on religion and colonization was soooooo interesting !

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kesreads13's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

This series was painful and had my least favorite trope of

Spoiler

my dies at the end < / spoiler>

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mreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

I have no idea where to begin when thinking about the Poppy War Trilogy. Of course it's easy enough to say "talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same" but that just doesn't seem to fully encompass it.

R.F Kuang has absolutely become a favorite author. Her use of fantastical magic with the unfortunate, brutal truths of history have raised the bar for the subgenre over all. The heartbreak that I feel in the wake of finishing this series is hard to put into words. But all the same I'm grateful to feel it.

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laughingkatana's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

I simply couldn't give it 4 stars. This book was truly great. It was fully immersive, incredibly detailed, and told an wonderful story (wonderful isn't the right word, it's an incredibly dark story). While reading the biggest issue was the pacing.

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.

(Next spoiler is very light)

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.

After finishing the book my biggest issue is simply how much is left to question, and how the characters justified the ending. I'm very curious if R.F. Kuang will ever publish anything based in the same world and taking place after this trilogy. It's odd, I'm disappointed and wanting more of the story simultaneously. I think I just want to know if/how the characters in this story will affect the world long term.

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.

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