skitch41'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
4.5
Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, Colonisation, and Murder
Minor: Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and Racism
winterwoodbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The character work is immaculate.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Genocide, Murder, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Child death, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Trafficking, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Medical trauma, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Self harm, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Vomit, and War
kesreads13's review against another edition
- 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
Spoiler
my dies at the end < / spoiler>Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Death, Racism, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Gore, and Mental illness
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Abortion, Addiction, and Miscarriage
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
lucyjxwkes's review
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Genocide
Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Sexual assault, Drug use, Gore, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Grief
peggy_racham's review against another edition
4.75
the end and the beginning. The world is a painting and I hold the brush. I
am a god."
Did I stare at a blank space for 10 min after finishing the book? Yes I did. An amazing ending to a briliant debut trilogy.
Graphic: Abortion, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Gore, Toxic friendship, War, Body horror, Death, Child death, Addiction, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Blood, Cannibalism, Genocide, and Medical trauma
st4rchaser'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: Death, Racism, War, Genocide, Colonisation, Drug use, Violence, Suicide, Gore, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Cannibalism and Rape
Minor: Forced institutionalization
ewinnk'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
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, War, Body horror, Cannibalism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
caelinsullivan's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: War, Cannibalism, Violence, Animal death, Addiction, Self harm, Murder, Suicide, and Colonisation
njthk'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? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Great conclusion for the trilogy and great book overall, but my least favorite of them all.
Some gripes I have with this book:
Spoiler
THE WHOLE TRIFECTA ARC JUST TO KILL THEM OFF?! JUST LIKE THAT?! When the bombs dropped I was like 'pah they surely survived that'. I WAS CERTAIN THEY WOULD RETURN, ONLY AFTER A 100 PAGES OR SO IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THERE COULDNT POSSIBLY BE SPACE FOR THEIR STORY ON SO LITTLE PAGES LEFT. And we never got to know what exactly Rigas powers were, bro was dead, resurrected and then dead again all in the span of 10 Minuten lmao.I guess that just wasn't the focus of the Story but I can't help but wish for more.
Kuang opened up such a large World but in the end it still felt kinda unexplored.
Rins inner workings and morals were once again sooo interesting.
Spoiler
Her black and white thinking, the mental acrobatics girly did to justify her actions, the deep rooted racism at every corner and so onnnn.Especially during the last pages it became apparent how far gone Rin was. The sheer Paranoia and the blindness for everything but War, Power another win and another one and another one.
I wanted to be mad at her as she killed Venka (THIS WAS SO FOUL) and then almost Kitay (I WILL FOREVER LOVE YOU KITAY) but I was just sad for her. Truly tragic.
AND THE ENDING.
Sounds strange but i'm so glad that Rin died. It was a good decision and it finally gave her rest. I hate when Authors can't say goodbye to their characters and just drag them along.
(And a random thought I had: It's so funny that all the male Yins look virtually the same. Kuang emphasized their physical similarities
Spoiler
(Riga, Vaisra, Nezha)Graphic: Murder, War, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Cannibalism, Gore, and Suicide