The Burning God (The Poppy War, 3)

AGlitterCobra

A fitting conclusion

"***5 Stars*** Overall, So, I finished the first two books in this series about 3 months ago and instead of going right into the final book I decided I needed a break from this world. Not because the books aren’t good. They are just heavy and dark and sad and tense and after reading 1000+ pages of that I needed to read some lighter material. Now that I have picked this final book up and read it, I can say with out a doubt it was a fantastic, thrilling, dark, sad, tense finale. The book ended the only way that it could and while I am broken hearted everything leading up to it and the steady decline of Rin as the world around her is falling apart I am very content with the way that it ended. Cover, I have the white hardcover edition and it is striking in its starkness with Rin on the cover. Recommendation, If you have made it this far in the Poppy War Trilogy then I obviously I recommend reading this final book. If you are just stumbling on to this book series, know that it is historical fiction/fantasy with very dark material, please check your trigger warnings before picking this series up. It can be very graphic at times. I do think anyone who loves fantasy with a lot of war/battles/battle planning you should consider picking this book up. ["

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August 11, 2022 Verified Purchase

Amanda Ramirez

A great read, but tired

"The Burning God was a powerful and intense conclusion to The Poppy War trilogy. At the beginning, I still had a lot of empathy for Rin. She had lost so much and carried the weight of an entire nation on her shoulders. But as the story went on, I started to hate the person she was becoming. Her choices grew darker, her judgment clouded by power and vengeance. By the end, I wasn’t rooting for her anymore, and honestly, the final scene felt justified. It was harsh, but it made sense. The worldbuilding was rich and colorful, full of culture, history, and war strategy. Kuang really knows how to create a vivid, brutal world. But at the same time, I think she tried to do too much with this book. There were so many subplots and side characters that the story felt overstuffed and dragged out. In my opinion, the same message and emotional impact could’ve been delivered in a book half the size. Overall, while I respect the ambition, The Burning God left me feeling drained and conflicted; not because it was bad, but because it went so far that even the main character became hard to support. ["

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July 13, 2025 Verified Purchase

Cassie

Absolutely Devastating...but I Loved It

"Wow. I sob cried at the end of the book...and I can't stop crying every time I think about it. This story/series is extremely traumatizing but at the same time absolutely amazing. I could not stop thinking about it anytime I put it down and this story will forever be seared into my heart. If you loved the first two books you will love the third entry...all mysteries are revealed to us and our characters get the conclusion that they need. It's so hard to describe without spoilers...so just DO IT! Read it! So worth it!! *SPOILERS BECAUSE I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS!* As soon as Rin started marching towards Arlong and is taking back Republic conquered cities we can see the cracks forming in her. It's been coming all along but now we start getting worried that Rin is not going to be able to keep the Phoenix at bay and is making decisions based on her rage/vengeance and not for the good of her people that she's been fighting for all along. I died a little inside when Venka was accused of being a traitor and then was killed a moment later defending Rin - Rin how could you?! And then when she wants to keep going and start a war with the Hesperians after seeing the absolute devastation her country is in...I knew Rin was gone. It was cemented when she thinks Kitay has turned against her and lies to him about the compromise/surrender to the Hesperians. And then I completely turned to dust when she was about to bring down the entire world and she was going to break and kill Kitay. I was so relieved when she came to her senses and stopped hurting Kitay and chose to self sacrifice herself because she knows she will never stop. Of course this means Kitay dies too leaving poor Nezha to pick up the broken pieces of the country to fix. AND THEN the author has to include a short story at the end through Nezha's POV during certain key points throughout the series and we find out that he truly loved Rin, he did not ever want power, he just wanted to be at peace....but now he can never have any of those things. IM DEAD, DEAD AND GONE, RF KUANG WHY!????? I loved every moment but I will never get over this. Thanks for that! ["

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June 14, 2024 Verified Purchase

simone

A devestating end to a phenomenal series

"update: lowered my review. Much of my thoughts remain the same; for me I felt compelled to lower it because I originally was giving it 4 stars more out of obligation to the characters that I loved rather than being honest about my frustrations and it’s shortcomings. - Phew! How do I even begin to order my thoughts? R.F. Kuang, you have truly destroyed all of our peace of mind (in the best way possible) with these series and characters, and I thank you tremendously for it. For now, I'm rating TBG 4 stars out of my love and appreciation for the characters and certain arcs that were seen through in this finale. However, in total honesty, I may end up bumping the review down, as I struggled a bit with some of the characterizations/ pacing of TBG. Firstly, I have said this before and must say it again, while I understand and can appreciate that Rin is not a trustworthy or objective narrator, I found the continued character assasination and villification of Altan to be gratuitious and completley unnessecary. We ended The Dragon Republic with Rin beginning to believe and come into her own power, and yet a lot of her internal monolouge and perspective in the first half of The Burning God felt lifted word for word from her in the first and second books. So to that end, it just felt like Rin's never ending obsession with and fear of Altan was tiring and frustrating, especially as we as the reader understand the person she imagines and characterizes isn't actually who he was. Going off of that, while I actually was not outraged by the ending and felt it made perfect sense, I did struggle personally with Rin's descent into power hungry madness and tunnel vision regarding violence and waging wars. This is honestly a compliment to R.F. Kuang, as she characterized it and Rin's loss of sense of reality so sickeningly well. The last comment I'll make is that as a finale, TBG felt a little bit like it bit off more than it could chew. You have the Southern Coalition, the Hesperians, the Trifecta plotline, all overlapping and yet at the same time, none feel focused enough on. I LOVED seeing Daji and Jiang banter and was a bit frustrated at how quickly- and vaguely-that storyline was resolved. I had so many more questions! I also think that the characters themselves suffered due to how much goes on in the book in terms of plotlines. Venka's arc and ending felt really unsatisfactory to me, and at times it seemed as though Kitay would appear to chastise Rin's nature and then be gone again. All in all, the ending was beautifully- and PAINFULLY- crafted. R.F. Kuang has done an absolutely stellar job at writing a series that forces questions about human nature, about the true cost of war, and the characters of leaders; who they believe themselves to be, and who they are. Historically, culturally, this series is important. Am a better, more critically thinking person for having read it! ["

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December 18, 2020 Verified Purchase