A review by radhi_inthelibrary
The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

 The title of this book sounds so blasphemous so ignore me as I play on the letters lol ๐Ÿ˜….
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Anyway...just thinking about this book makes my heart hurt & it's the reason why I've put off reviewing it for so long...
I was crying so hard through the last few pages that I couldn't even see the words๐Ÿซ ๐Ÿ˜–. It took me WEEKS to stop crying every time I thought about this book, you can ask my family, they've recorded me just crying about the house ๐Ÿ˜….
For extra dramatics & feels, after you finish the book listen to the song, Let Me Down Slowly by Alec Benjamin ft. Alessia Cara, which I've added here - I promise you, your heart will break over & over again. The song helped keep the tears flowing nonstop. I'm also trying very hard not to cry as I'm typing this since the book & the song are staring in my face atm ๐Ÿซ .
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Ok this is going to be less a review & more of just feelings that I still haven't come to terms with, but here we go:
This series is the most perfect "full circle" sort of plot line that I've ever read. Not only did we revisit & complete the story of every single character, but we also revisit old & new settings, come to terms with those places & the histories behind them. Friendships forged, loves bloomed & hearts broke. Betrayals that stab you in the chest only for you to realize it wasn't a betrayal at all but an act of love to free you๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ’”. The writing was otherworldly, I can't believe the author is basically the same age as me. And I've said this before, but the way she brings up history, colonization, racism, genocide all of that - just incredibly portrayed that I can imagine how it would've been like in real life.

Also, I'm not mad about the ending. I'm sad. Sad and still crying about it, but I know that that was the way it had to end.
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"You b*tch, he thought. You f*cking b*tch"
"...all he wanted to do was howl."
If you know, you know....