Awesome foundation, horrible main character

There’s a BIG possibility y’all would like this series. There were parts I liked. It’s well written and a good story. Probably could’ve been complete in 1 or 2 books but 3 long novels later, I could never connect to the main character. I spent the whole series thinking she’d grow, change, learn from her mistakes, etc..... nope. Completely frustrating. Her anger, lack of growth, blindness, selfishness, child-like tendencies, and callousness throughout the whole series lost me and I ended up rooting against her till the end.

7 people found this helpful

Remove the protagonist and its good (spoilers)

I powered through this last book thinking all the mystery and unanswered questions that were left would eventually be answered or maybe the main charecter would FINALLY grow up and learn from her mistakes and sigh... i was wrong. Let me start by saying this is an interesting read, but the way this story wrapped up was lack luster, and thats an understatement. They spend 3 books over hyping this trio of warriors of legend just to kill them off in the weakest way possible. The main charecter is so hate blinded and immature she rushes head first into all situations, screws up, gets betrayed, rinse repeat. IN EVERY BOOK. They make her so irrational and petty by the end of the book and then ends it by doing what in 3 books she never showed she was capable of. And forget about burning questions being answered, they wont be. Sorry, not for this review, but sorry i dint listen to my inner voice telling me not to read this. its not going to satisfy you

4 people found this helpful

Stellar

It is 5 am, and I am in final week. But I rather simp for the Phoenix.

3 people found this helpful

Total Disappointment!

After listening to all 3 books within the past few months, I can assuredly say how disappointing the final book was. It made me regret investing my time and energy into the first two books. I don't know what the author was thinking when she wrote the final book but it was not well received on my end. The first two books were riveting and captivating with refreshing takes on a fantasy/fiction series. I was hoping to see the character develop and thrive in the final installment of what was SUPPOSED to be an amazing trilogy. Yet, all I got was the same hard headed, impulsive, train wreck of a protagonist who only hurt others along the way and never learnt a single lesson. On top of that, the story of the Trifecta had to be the biggest let down of a story arc I've ever read. After hyping up the audience for the first two books, the ending they got was totally flat and boring. I think the author had the right ideas but her execution was sub par and disappointing. 10/10 won't recommend.

2 people found this helpful

Rin: a screw up till the end.

I loved the series but Rin is bar none, the dumbest protagonist ever put to page. The proformance was great.

2 people found this helpful

So much expectations, but....

I would have liked to start my review with Nezha's exact words at the end of the book... and since I refrain from swearing, it shall not be written here.

RF Kuang is undoubtedly an intelligent writer and her first two books proved her ability to world creation, albeit heavily borrowed from the brutal and tragic history of Japanese occupation of China, and good character building with grey protagonist that readers could easily root for. Therefore, why on earth is there still need for so much brutality and and violence that sometimes do nothing for the story. It was tolerable in The Dragon's Republic but here in the highly expected finale, it didn't do anything to help the story. The saddest part was there was no further development of character or even the relationships that they share. Huge pause button on that arena from book two.

The constant repetition of Rin's mental anguish was also rather tiresome to read and please be aware that there are quite a few red herrings in this book. (Pls pardon the potential spoiler) My biggest gripe with the book is the ending because Rin never did understand the meaning and weight of the word duty for a person of Chinese upbringing. She had NEVER acted out of duty nor for the greater good, thus the ending was unbelievable. She was a reactive soldier, regrettably, not given much to weighing the consequences of her actions and selfish. So I really could not buy into the ending at all. It felt as if Kuang has decided on the ending and wrote everything to make it work.

I regret to say that after waiting with such high hopes for this book, it left a sour tang that made me wish I have something good to wash down the taste with. On the upside, Emily woo Zeller's narration partially saved the book from complete damnation.

I really did want to like this book but...

1 person found this helpful

Not sure why this story was written.

The protagonist started out her journey naive, unwilling to listen and hell bent on trusting those who were obviously going to betray her. She continued her journey and ended it this way too. What was the point of the whole trilogy? The plot had no real direction. The character development was non existent. I really wanted to like this series but it just couldn't meet basic literary standards let alone the next level hype that led me to pick up this series in the first place. Save yourself the trouble and go read Jade City instead.

1 person found this helpful

Flat character

The writing itself was good. But I did not enjoy this book, nor this series. The main character is full of anger and hatred, has refused to grow up or learn from her past. The entire story is told pretty much from the main character’s point of view, lots of self pity. In turn, all the other characters were left flat, because she could not tell the story from their perspective. Too much hatred. Too much anger. But maybe, growing up in an environment like that, one might just be full of despair, anger... I wanted to like this series, but I failed.

1 person found this helpful

Incredible

A brilliant story that ends in a truly fantastic blaze of glory. RF Kuang clearly knew exactly what she wanted from this and she delivered it without straying from the path. Well done.

The Reigning End of Rin

In this third and final(?) book of the Poppy Wars staring the Phoenix burning solider Fang Ruin (Rin) as she escapes her captors in the second book, reunited the Great Three, seeks her revenge against the Dragon Warlord and his son, and takes back the South. Despite all of that adventure that should have left me complete by the end, I did not enjoy this third book nearly as much as the first two. All that chaos never ends neatly and this book was no exception. Rin is still headstrong, still holds her prejudices against some people until either they die or she just doesn't need them anymore, uses and abuses others, and in the end the sacrifices she made weren't for the greater good but as punishment instead. Without spoiling the story, I respect the character development and I felt much of the pain she went through to achieve what she did, but she didn't learn anything and the legacy left behind wasn't even half as strong. I found myself siding with character Nezha (baby Dragon Emperor) by the end: "everything she touched turned to ash." Rin was definitely like the Phoenix: she burned everything she touched, so I do wonder if she will rise again from the ashes in another installment. Time will tell.