The Dragon Republic (BOOK REVIEW)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What a devastating read. Truly.
I don't know whether I want to rush head first into the next book or sit with my feelings for a bit and read something more relaxing.

“Rin was so tired of having to prove her humanity.”

This story follows Rin and her journey after committing the atrocities that ended the previous book. A lot of time in The Dragon Republic is devoted to Rin's mental state and her questionable ways of coping with the weight of what she's done. The more I think about this book, the more I appreciate it. One of my biggest frustrations with the story was how childlike Rin could be when it came to certain decisions. In my head I was mentally projecting myself onto her and demanding that she be smarter about certain choices, but that was not what Rin needed to go through to process her trauma. 

Kuang is unmatched in her descriptions of war and trauma. She writes every war scene with such intense and graphic writing that it truly feels like you're just there in the moment with the characters. Every gut-wrenching slash of the sword can be felt through Kuang's words. The war planning in this series is also something to gawk at. In many fantasy books I find the battle strategies to be very simple- which I'm fine with- but you can truly tell that Kuang went out of her way to form strategic battle plans according to how real wars are fought. Kuang emphasizes that even the best battle strategies mean absolutely nothing in true warfare because anything can happen, and articulates that beautifully to the audience. 

The Dragon Republic felt like a rollercoaster of emotions and my safety bar just flew off. I think Kuang deserves every ounce of praise she receives for her writing and I will be paying attention to her future works as they come out.

I appreciate the raw horrible nature Kuang writes into the story and that she recognizes the reality of war and conquering and what happens to so many who fall under its destruction. Dark subject matter can be covered in stories like this without exploiting the situation for shock value which so many other stories would do, and also still be necessary to the plot of the story.
Also Kuang, all of my favourite characters except two? Really? Did you need to gut punch me into the next century >:(((


“Our world is a dream of the gods. Maybe they have other dreams. But all we have is this story unfolding, and in the script of this world, nothing's going to bring Altan back to life.”
Read this series and forfeit your soul to the torture it'll put you through <3