The Summary

Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead after defending her country of Nikan from foreign invaders and fighting the terrible Empress Su Daji in a bloody civil war.

Despite her setbacks, Rin hasn't given up on the people she's made such great sacrifices for, particularly the residents of the southern provinces and in particular Tikany, her home village. Rin encounters severe obstacles and unforeseen chances while going back to her roots. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sneaky and unreliable, Rin quickly understands that the millions of common people who love Nikan as a goddess of salvation and yearn for retribution hold the actual power in Nikan.

With the support of the populace and her Southern Army, Rin will employ all available means to vanquish the Dragon Republic, the Hesperian colonists, and anyone else who poses a threat to the shamanic arts and their practitioners. Will she have the stamina to withstand the Phoenix's seductive voice pleading with her to set the globe and everything in it on fire as her influence and power expand?

My Review

This book was fantastic! There was no way this brilliant series could have ended more perfectly. It was stern and disruptive to your emotional equilibrium, but it was also profoundly significant and expertly written. It manages to catch you off surprise all the way through.

Without a doubt, these characters have come a long way, and I have loved watching them grow but also fall apart. Kuang has excelled in developing characters that you can't help but root for, even though they make terrible choices and ultimately turn out to be violent, narcissistic, crafty, and powerful people. Partway through the novel, particularly in The Burning God, you find yourself rooting for Rin to win at any costs, but as you learn what the sacrifice is, you start to wonder whether you could also be a mean person.

An intriguing set of characters were also introduced to the roster of characters. Since then, I've discovered that I should never put my confidence in others. In this series, each character has a personal agenda.

The setting and plot of this one still place a strong emphasis on politics and winning the war. This book spends a lot of time on trauma, including all of the ways it can manifest and loop. We frequently see the misery brought on by prejudice, the outcomes of discrimination, and the effects of imperialism, in addition to the agony produced by physical, sexual, and other forms of abuse. However, we get to observe how a variety of individuals in the book approach coping with their own traumas. Although it is extremely unpleasant, it is also crucial, real, and honest.

The Burning God, in my perspective, stresses how loyalty, commitment, and possibly even justice can help conceal abuse and trauma more easily. I found the main emphasis on guerrilla and defensive warfare tactics to be incredibly intriguing.

Anyone who has read this book can appreciate how expertly the author depicts the genuine horrors of war, smoothly combines historical information, doesn't sugarcoat the difficult material, and avoids romanticizing it like many authors do.

Unless I publish a spoiler review, I won't go into further detail. The reader was left to develop their own judgments on a few new information tale points that were not fully explored.

The protagonists of The Burning God engaged in an internal fight over their own feelings and emotional welfare in the third act, which made for a tremendously compelling reading experience.

I implore all of my fellow fantasy readers to read and try out this series! The ending was so devastating that I'm not sure when I'll be able to let it go. There are no unanswered questions, unfinished business, or unbroken hearts in this conclusion.

Series Review:

The Poppy War: 5/5 stars

The Dragon Republic: 5/5 stars

The Burning God: 5/5 stars

The Poppy War Trilogy: 15/15 stars

My ratings score:

★★★★★ Fantastic! Made me go through a lot of emotions & the entire book is incredibly beautifully done! 

★★★★ Memorable! Despite its shortcomings, this book was incredible and taught us a lot. 

★★★ Good work! Nothing particularly remarkable, but still nice.

★★ Meh... Mediocre with great room for improvement.

★ Extremely Poor.