Book Review #66: The Burning God by R. F. Kuang

Hello Dear Reader!

Welcome to my book review of the last book of The Poppy War Trilogy, The Burning God by R.F. Kuang. This book was almost as long as its prequel, and I enjoyed all of it! Just like with the reviews of the previous books, I will preface this one by saying there are a PLETHORA of trigger warnings including, but not limited to, violence, murder, substance addiction, trauma, mentions of abortion, rape, body mutilations, racism, cannibalism and so on and so forth. It’s still definitely NOT for a YA audience because of the rather detailed descriptions of the above subjects. Was it as mind-numbing as the first book? No, and it’s probably because after the first book, anything considered mind-numbing probably won’t hit me as hard ever again.

ANYWAY! Following the last third of the story of Fang Runin, or Rin for short, The Burning God picks up several months after the previous book ended, with Rin officially part of the southern coalition aiming to bring down the newly established Republic, their Hesperian allies, and most of all former classmate and potential romantic partner turned traitor, Nezha. Woven into her march towards the ultimate victory are pieces of lore from long ago, back when the powerful trifecta of the Gatekeeper, the Vipress, and the Emperor were still at their prime, tying up loose ends while also leaving enough information for readers to theories on others that hadn’t been tied up by the end of the story.

But before I get deeper into that, here’s the back-cover summary (from Goodreads)

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? 

Time for the review!

Just like the previous two books, The Burning God has so much to it that this book review is going to be structured differently. And like their first book’s reviews, I’m starting with a brief paragraph on the book’s world and magic system.

The third book of this trilogy basically solidifies what has been introduced in its prequels. Much of the land traversed and mentioned throughout The Burning God has been visited or described in books prior, though new settings include the flat lands and plateaus of the Dog Province and the Heavenly Temple at Mount Tianshan. The cultures of the Nikara people, the Hesperians, and the Hinterlanders remain wonderfully diverse and rich in their own histories and customs, and racism is still ever-so-present throughout the book.

As for the story and its plot, just like its prequels, there’s so much to it that I’m only going to give a general overview of my thoughts and opinions.

First of all, I have to address how many loose ends this book has tied while leaving certain ones hanging. One of those loose ends so happens to be how the Trifecta came to be along with how their dynamic truly was. It’s a rather frightening one, actually. The Dragon Emperor, basically emotionally and physically abused the Gatekeeper and the Vipress into submission so they could do his bidding with no less than a guarantee. It was rather said seeing two of the strongest characters in the book cower in fear in just the mere thought of the man.

Of course, the battle strategies and descriptions Kuang provides are amazing. The war story woven into the three books in the trilogy have always been very solid, interestingly complex, and well-explained. The montages were as meaningful and drove this portion of the story forward as always, and they were well-timed and personally kept me engaged.

The greatest part of this story was completing Rin’s character arc. To avoid major spoilers, we get to see her rise from being a mere soldier, to a general, to the face and symbol of the Southern Coalition. She basically comes to be seen as a goddess of sorts, and seeing her get to that point from being a country girl from one of the poorer provinces at the very beginning of the trilogy was a JOURNEY. And I’m afraid to mention anything more than she experiences a downfall at the end of The Burning God, mainly because of spoilers. Her character remains consistent down to the very end of the story, and the ending just felt… right.

Just like its prequels, The Burning God does a great job of exploring the moralities of the different characters and the reasoning behind making certain decisions throughout the book. It’s a great reminder that there is no black and white to determining what is right and wrong. It presents quite a few thought-provoking questions. Unfortunately, I won’t mention them because quite a few revolve around the triggering topics floating throughout the book.

It also does a really great job of fleshing out the characters. Yes, Rin, Kitay, Venka, and Nezha were Sinegardian-trained soldiers. Yes, they’ve faced battle after battle and horror after horror. But, at the end of it all, they’re still just children in the grand scheme of things. By the end of the trilogy, Rin is only twenty-one. Twenty-one and she’s been through so many horrors, witnessing the deaths of a number of her loved ones, being betrayed by a handful of people she initially trusted, and being faced with the decision of killing one of the people she loves most in the world. At the end of it all, the book reminds us that they’re children who truly don’t know what they’re doing, and it just adds a meaningful layer of depth to the story.

I greatly enjoyed this trilogy, and I’m so glad I decided to read it. I usually avoid currently popular books, and I’m so happy I decided to give this one a chance. It did not disappoint.

So, The Burning God rating:

5/5 and highly recommend! It provides a great, open ending to The Poppy War trilogy and leaves me wishing for a sequel series after this. And, of course, I do caution reading this if you want to avoid any of the above trigger warnings. The depictions are as graphic as always.

Thanks for reading!