REVIEW: The Burning God, by R.F. Kuang

I received this book for free from HarperCollins, NetGalley, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Burning God by R. F. Kuang
Series: The Poppy War #3
Published by HarperCollins on November 17, 2020
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Epic
Pages: 640
Format: eARC
Source: HarperCollins, NetGalley, Publisher
Amazon||The Book Depository
Goodreads

The exciting end to The Poppy War trilogy, R. F. Kuang’s acclaimed, award-winning epic fantasy that combines the history of twentieth-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters, to devastating, enthralling effect.

After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead.

Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much—the people of the southern provinces and especially Tikany, the village that is her home. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges—and unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation.

Backed by the masses and her Southern Army, Rin will use every weapon to defeat the Dragon Republic, the colonizing Hesperians, and all who threaten the shamanic arts and their practitioners. As her power and influence grows, though, will she be strong enough to resist the Phoenix’s intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it?

the burning god destroyed me!!!! :))))

for those who don’t know, The Poppy War is one of my faaaaavorrrriiiteeee!!!! books ever. The Dragon Republic left me an emotional mess. it’s no surprise that The Burning God was one of my most anticipated books of 2020 – if not the most anticipated book. that said, my excitement was palpable.

if you haven’t read The Poppy War or The Dragon Republic, i’d recommend reading those books or reviews first before diving into this review!

---

The Burning God is R.F. Kuang’s most technically advanced novel to date. it’s clear how much her writing improved. i rarely enjoy trilogy finales but this!!!! was it!!!!!!!!! i can’t imagine it concluding any other way, despite the immense pain. :”) however, my biggest issue with TBG was the pacing. i found myself struggling to get into the novel – either from fear of events or the slow start. while The Dragon Republic’s action starts after the first chapter, it took over a hundred pages for me to feel the urgency i felt in prior novels. when it did start getting unputdownable, i flew through it. (however, personally, TDR is my favorite because of the yearning. also, it’s generally more exciting imo.)

my favorite part of the novel was the character depth. what’s great about series is having the consistency of characters you’re familiar with. we’ve already been through so much and we were able to understand them even more.

View Spoiler »i particularly enjoyed getting to know the trifecta!! honestly, su daji became one of my favorite(!!) characters. i loved getting to truly know jiang as opposed to the shell of him in TPW. in addition to the old characters, my FAVORITE part of this was having everything come full circle with the new characters. when rin was teaching papeji and the new shamans i was T——T. SO EMO. « Hide Spoiler

everyone who read TBG talks about how *emotional* the book makes you feel and that,, sums it up perfectly. this book was so much. i couldn’t stop pausing in between to stop the waterworks – more so out of nostalgia than anything else. i was so sad that it was really ending. you can see the writing reflecting that. even though it’s done, i still can’t believe it’s over. these characters and this world was such a large part of my life and now it’s just over. this rings true for any series conclusion, but TBG’s writing and storyline heightened it.

so. the ending.

View Spoiler »i honestly don’t think it could’ve ended any other way, despite 1) not seeing it coming and 2) being so emotionally wrecked by it. i didn’t see it coming because i thought rebecca would reflect history (if rin is mao zedong, she would’ve been the ruler of nikan/china), but NOPE. looking back, it was pretty obvious. and really, it was the only ended this series would’ve had. but the PAIN. it still was SO PAINFUL. rin!! you stupid speerly!!! AND YET!!! ;____; kitay !!! and nezha!!! all of them!!! they had the WORST but ;_______; there really is no happiness in this story. « Hide Spoiler

this series remains one of my favorites of all time. getting here was truly a JOURNEY. i’m so glad the finale was as wonderful as i anticipated; i cannot wait to read Rebecca’s future novels. if you haven’t read The Poppy War, GO READ THE POPPY WAR. and if you haven’t read The Burning God, prepare your tissues and a solid week for emotional coping.

[rating-report]