After loving the immersive world The Poppy War painted for me in 2018, I was very excited to get my hands on The Dragon Republic and this epic fantasy did not disappoint!
The Dragon Republic, R. F. Kuang
Themes: Fantasy, Adult, Historical Fiction
Reading Format: Hardback
4.5 STARS // 8.8 CAWPILE
Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
The Poppy War moved very fast at the start of the writing, I felt like I knew the characters very well, very quickly. So entering into The Dragon Republic felt like returning to old friends. Rin is a fantastic lead because she is flawed and has many internal conflicts, you can see in the quote below that she has her weaknesses! She isn’t your perfect protagonists, at times she may even come across as the antagonist depending on whose side you’re on. The point is that Rin is clever yes, she is talented and skilled, but she isn’t always right. She is guided by those around her, the sub-characters of this book have such a sway as to where the story goes, it really fuels the plot and reading experience. I feel like there are so many characters to love in this book and also so many to hate too.
“All she wanted was to find a hole and hide.”
The tension in this book is clear, The Poppy War left us on edge, but The Dragon Republic really shows us where the threat is. Rin desperately tries to fight for what she thinks is right and to be on the correct side of history. It is a constant internal battle for her, but there is also a constant stream of physical battles in this too. The atmosphere in this book is a lot darker than the first one, but also a lot richer as we see more sides of the empire fall apart. I found it really interesting to learn more about this world.
R. F. Kuang writes brilliantly, she really knows what she’s talking about and that is evident through her creation of believable characters and a plot that completely sucked me in. She is probably, for this reason, an auto-buy author for me now, I love her work. If you strip down the plot for this series, you are left with a simple fight for power, but with Kuang’s writing, this book is a tale of love and loss, power, control, war, philosophy and religion, loyalty and so much more. I’d imagine one-day people could write essays about this series, there is so much to talk about!
For such a big book, I was hooked the whole time. I barely put it down, I even downloaded it on kindle as well as owning the hardback so I could read it wherever I went. I was that person at the gym reading on my phone whilst also trying to exercise. I give R. F. Kuang a virtual cheer for The Dragon Republic, I can’t wait to see where book three takes us!
I haven’t started this series yet but I’ve read some fantastic reviews on the first books – it’s definitely on my TBR list (near the top, aha!). Fantastic review – Rin sounds like a really intriguing character and I love it when authors don’t make them perfect! Thanks for the recommendation!