I AM RAGE
BURNT UP, SMOLDERING, FESTERING RAGE.
What the fuck?
What the fuck?
What the fuck?
What the fuck, indeed.
Okay, so no. This is what you're NOT going to do, Rebecca Kuang. You're NOT going to begin this novel with lingering grief and anger and sadness and rage inside the only character I have ever loved with my entire soul, Rin, the bitch I would willingly lay down my life for. You're NOT going to have all my favorite characters die such horrible, aching deaths that leaves me wounded inside like a fucking carcass. You're NOT going to have this beautiful, lovely scene with Rin, Kitay, Venka, and Nezha, AKA four fictional characters I would die for, and have them ripped apart so brutally that the beautiful scene wasn’t even worth it. I would prefer to have read nothing at all.
***WARNING: 85% of this review will just be me cursing out every person who has ever fucked Rin over. Including our dear author here. So if you have any issues with excess amount of profanity, kindly exit. You are unwanted.***
What the fuck was that, R.F. Kuang? What the fuck did you do to my already obliterated soul? I'm sorry, but I did NOT give you permission to ruin my heart this way.
There are so many things I need to talk about, so I hope I can hold off the swearing for now and actually articulate all the jumbled shit in my brain.
The first thing I need to talk about is Fang Runin. I just ... I wish I could die and make her take my place. Fuck all the other books with amazing characters like Inej, Zoya, Aelin, Manon, and all those other bitches. Fuck them. Because they're nothing compared to Fang Runin. Absolutely nothing. Rin has dealt with shit those bitches can't even begin to imagine. And yeah, they all have trauma. In some way, shape, or form, all protagonists have suffered in some irreversible way. But you will not sit here and tell me that Rin is any weaker than those bitches. Because she is the King and Queen of all those incomparable females, and you cannot convince me otherwise. And do not even try going to the comments section and attempting to convince me, because 1) I will not give the slightest fuck and 2) you will be muted, blocked, and deleted because anyone who says Fang Runin is not the baddest bitch in all of these fantasy books is fucking dead to me. (I just realized I sound really fucking heated and I need to tone it down)
I'm literally going to spend the next two or three paragraphs talking about Fang Runin because she is something superior to any character I have ever read about. Rin is a war child, just like Kitay, and Nezha, and Venka, and Ramsa, and all my other favorite bitches. And she is so angry. She is so angry at what has been done to her, the cruelty she's faced, all the people she trusted who repaid her with betrayal. I've read about so many characters who are just so fucking tired of getting played and cheated and betrayed, but Fang Runin does not stop. Not once has she broken down and cried just because someone turned their backs on her. She says, "Fuck your stupid ass. I don't need you,” and she cuts her fucking losses and moves on. And I swear that is one of the most beautiful things about her. I just ... I can't even begin to comprehend the love, respect, admiration, and affection that I have for Rin. She is so superior to any character I have read about.
Dear everyone who rated The Dragon Republic anything below five stars:
Fuck you I'm kidding.
Actually, I'm not sure. But still. You monsters.
So this happened:
(view spoiler) is dead.
(view spoiler) is dead.
(view spoiler) is dead.
(view spoiler) is dead.
IS THERE ANYONE LEFT IN THE BOOK THAT LIVES? you ask. I don't fucking know, let's ask Kuang. Hello, Kuang. Look what the fuck you did to my heart, you monstrous, heartless, queen.
Kuang is the only author who has ever been considerate of my heart and decided not to RIP my precious characters from my arms (note the thick, thick-layered sarcasm). In fact, Kuang is actually the only author who has fucked my heart so thoroughly. This book has fucked my soul, and I feel like if I were to read The Burning God, it would only increase the rapid depression of my mental health. I am still going to read it, because like Rin, I’m a fucking idiot and I love pain.
Question people tend to ask: Who the fuck is the villain in this book? All I know is that I hate everyone. I hate all you backstabbing bitches who hurt or betrayed Rin, and I promise you this: She's coming for your asses. You bitches better lock your doors and sleep with the lights on, because when that bitch comes, you’ll be her fucking dinner.
The things I am currently aware of are:
1. I would kill for Rin.
2. I would kill Vaisra.
3. I would kill and then revive Nezha, then kill that bitch again, and then revive him because then I'd fucking regret it because I will never stop loving that bitch. Never.
4. I would die for Kitay and Venka.
5. I fucking love Su Daji.
6. Moag can fucking drown in a canal.
7. That Phoenix bitch better pull through for Rin and the entire South, or else they're all fucking cooked.
The plot was absolutely flawless. There were parts -- small, infinitesimal parts --about this book that made me think it was a four-star rating, but that ending really pulled through.
A question: Was the ending perfect?
Well, if you consider how my heavy heart is now a wrinkled, shattered, stomped-upon, lifeless thing beneath Kuang's feet, then yes. Yes, that ending was perfect. The ending was perfect in that it knew exactly how to tear you to shreds. It's like Kuang took the most painful, heartbreaking ending she could think of and inserted it into the story just to rip me apart. I can clearly see why it was necessary for (view spoiler), but I just can't accept it. It's not right. There was so much earned love and trust between them, emotions they had to build over several years, and they would have really died for each other and I just can't understand why it had to be this way. Like I don't hate(view spoiler) at all. I don’t. I still love them with my whole heart. But I will always stand by Rin. No matter what, I’ll always root for her over anyone.
**💣💣💣💣💣SPOILERS IN THE NEXT THREE PARAGRAPHS 💣💣💣💣💣**
And now we shall discuss the big ass elephant in the fucking room. Nezha. My sweet child, love of my life, pain of my soul. Can I ask you something? What the actual fuck is wrong with you? Sweetie, are you sick? You had her, you stupid bitch. You had Rin. Rin loved you. And you threw that away. All for what? Inheriting the strongest fucking army in the fucking Empire? Fuck that shit. If you really loved her, you would've chosen her. You would've stayed with her. You fucking traitor.
I'm not mad. I’m really not, even though I sound mad. I just think it’s such a waste of building such a beautiful bond over their four rough years. Nezha, did that hug mean nothing to you? Did that kiss underwater mean nothing to you? Did Rin mean nothing to you? Was the force of the strongest army worth more than the force of Rin’s love, one of the most powerful beings in the entire world?
Nezha made his choice. He was not manipulated by his father, was not manipulated by the Hesperians or anyone else but himself. He knew exactly what he was doing, and that's what really hurts me. He had a choice, and he chose his empire. What really surprises me is how stupid he is. Don’t you realize that you can easily rebuild your own army, but a love like Rin’s can never replaced? You dumb little fuck. How dare you. How fucking dare you. I don’t understand how you can have everything one day and throw it all away for a fucking Empire. I thought Nezha was smarter than this. I hope he knows that she will never forgive him. She’ll never let him back in, and that hurts me like hell.
I still love Nezha. I don’t deny it. But I will always stand by Rin. Whatever she does, no matter how many mistakes she’s made, no matter how many mistakes she will make, I will never stop fighting for her.
**SPOILERS FINISHED**
Yes, I’m going to talk about Kitay now. Yes, Kitay gets his own paragraph, because Kitay is everything. I want Kitay. I need a Kitay. The level of GENIUS, the level of SARCASM, the level of WIT, the level of DRY HUMOR, the level of KITAY ... I just. I DON’T UNDERSTAND??? KUANG, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW YOU DID THIS. HOW YOU CREATED SOMEONE SO FLAWED YET SO BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT AND JUST ALL AROUND ONE OF THE BEST CHARACTERS I HAVE EVER READ ABOUT. I would do anything for Kitay. I would shatter the fucking world for Kitay. Why would anyone hurt Kitay? Why? I don’t understand. Kitay is so beautiful and bold and brave and intelligent and strong, and he’s endured so much and I hate that he had to go through some of the things he did. But he came out so much stronger because of them, and my pride is unfathomable.
His eyes were dead things.
WHY
WHY IS THIS A THING
WHY IS THIS A SENTENCE IN THIS BOOK
WHY IS THIS SENTENCE DESCRIBING KITAY
NO
Anyway. Now that my brain has been throughly fucked, it is time to move on to the next topic. I think the main reason why I love Rin so much is because she has so many fucking flaws. So many flaws to the point that she seems like a really evil person sometimes. She laughs during times she be sad or mourning, she’s selfish at times and doesn’t think about anyone but herself, she’s quick to anger, meaning she’s easy to manipulate, she has so many restless demons eating away inside her head, and she wants nothing more than vengeance to get back at all the people who ever fucked her over.
And I think that’s so fucking ironic that I love Rin for that—not because she’s beautiful and perfect and amazing—but because her life is literal shit and she’s just trying to fucking survive. That bitch is drowning and she’s only making the decisions we all would make if we were in her shoes, if we had the Phoenix’s power. Rin can’t be blamed for trying to survive. None of us are the proper judges, because we don’t know what decisions we would make if we were the ones fighting for our lives. I thought I’d worship someone like Inej Ghafa for the rest of my life—someone who already knows her worth and will take none of your shit. But Rin fucking hates herself. She wanted to fucking die. She wanted to kill herself, wanted to end it, because that was how disgusted she was living in her own skin because of all the mistakes she’s ever made. Because of all the guilt she’s racked up over the years. And every time she was narrating, I felt those words ram straight through my gut.
I love Rin. I love her because she’s rash, she’s confused, she doesn’t know what she’s doing, she’s always getting played by someone more powerful than her, and sometimes I question if she’s evil. I love Rin because she’s a far cry from perfect. I love that she is so flawed. I don’t want to read about a perfect character. The truth is, none of us do. Of course we all want to read about characters we resonate with in some way, characters who experience things we might never know, but who still share a fraction of something we’ve felt before. I want to read about a character who has gone through so much shit and learns from the torture of getting left behind and leaving people behind. I want to read about it because I look up to these characters and I want to learn from them. I always feel more attachment to characters who face adversity after adversity, and still find a way to get up off their feet, dust themselves off, and carry on with their lives. It’s why I love Helene and Laia so much. It’s why I love Rin so much.
**QUICK INTERRUPTION**
Dear Vaisra, Nezha, Moag, Tarquet, and Petra,
Fuck you.
Sincerely,
Yumiko
**END OF INTERRUPTION**
Now I realized I’ve mostly been talking about specific characters only, so now I’m going to talk about all the characters in the book as a whole. This character bunch, man. It’s not enough to have characters you’ll die for; they need to connect like puzzle pieces with the others. And so Kuang took this expectation of mine and set the bar so high that now I’m afraid I’ll never get to read about characters so brilliant ever again. These characters had my pulse racking so high I thought I would die. Even the fucking VILLAINS were just written so BEAUTIFULLY, so ARTICULATELY, with such complex emotions and decision-making. There was not one character in this entire book that felt fictional to me. Each and every one them are real.
I think the plot of the story was flawless, although I understand why some might say it was all over the place. Personally, I love books that turn a thousand different directions that merge in the middle at the very end. Some books try to do this and fail spectacularly. Again, Kuang has set my expectations so far that it’s probably going to be my favorite book for a couple of years before another book can dethrone it. I love how the plot went a thousand different ways and you always had to keep guessing what was going to happen next. I absolutely LOVE how unpredictable the ending was. Who would’ve thought Rin would let a certain someone escape free? She spent the whole half of the book planning (view spoiler), and now there is a potential alliance in the final book. I literally cannot WAIT for them to come together. As enemies, they would’ve ripped the continent apart. Together, they’ll tear the fucking world down.
Another factor I loved about this book was the constant switching sides and wondering who is the true villain of the story. Rin didn’t know what she was fighting for until the very end, when it was obviously too late to undo her actions and erase her part in helping move along the war. The only thing that was mildly predictable was Vaisra and Daji’s switched roles, which doesn’t even count as being predictable because I kept doubting myself like, “There’s no way (view spoiler) And yet she was. THE TABLES HAVE BEEN FLIPPED THE FUCK OVER.
This book fucked me up so bad. Like I feel so shaken like a bomb just went off and I’m trembling. I don’t even know what my life has become. This shit is going to follow me for a long time.
In Conclusion:
Fuck all the bitches that ever fucked with Rin. Fuck you. You’ll get what’s coming to you.