“Eventually you’ll have to ask yourself precisely what you’re fighting for. And you’ll have to find a reason to live past vengeance……”

Welp, in RF Kuang I trust because the second installment in this series blew me away. The world expands here in a way that makes for a perfect fantasy read. I really appreciated the pacing in this book, sometimes writers fail to let scenes percolate and keep things at a breakneck pace, but not Kuang. When the dust settles on the battlefield she takes her time with her characters and setting, letting us truly get to know them while still surprising us at every turn. That’s not to say there isn’t action, there is a ton here. But it’s not there to entertain us to make us feel giddy, instead we are scared and filled with tension. We feel the exhaustion of the characters as they fight and it is bone deep. This is world building, plot execution, and character driven writing at its very finest.

I won’t go into too much detail but I loved this one. I loved it because it shows us what fantasy writing should do. It holds a mirror up to our own world asking us to reflect on the status quo. It touches on heavy themes and issues surrounding colonialism and religion, trauma and revenge. As the reader we question every characters’ motives. At times it was unsettling, but again there is no sugar coating here. No rose colored glasses to help make the reader more comfortable. I honestly feel like this trilogy will become a masterpiece of our time. Maybe it’s hyperbolic, but I don’t think so. I’ve read enough fantasy that I feel like as of now, this trilogy stands alone because of its unique voice and what it has to say about our past, present, and future.

CW: Rape, additcion, grief, PTSD, graphic detais about battle wounds and deaths. #bookstagram #booklover#fantasybooks #thedragonrepublic #alwaysreading #diversefantasybooks #addictedtoreading #readersofinstagram #ilovereading #bookaholic #readmorefantasy #readbooksbywomen #readwomenauthors #libraryglaredontcare