The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War, #2) opens Goodreads in a new tab

My thoughts

5/5 stars If nothing lasted and the world did not exist, all that meant was that reality was not fixed. The illusion she lived in was fluid and mutable and could be easily altered by someone willing to rewrite the script of reality. Obvious 5 stars again because OMG????? I feel like anything this author writes is gonna be a 5 star read for me at this point and honestly, I love that for me! I don't wanna say that I fucking knew but I did. I'll leave a link to my review of the first book here before I tell you a hundred different reasons to read this one too. :P Check out my review of The Poppy War here-https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3694491944 But 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. Now about this one- This book was a fucking rollercoaster of emotions for me. I went from hating the main character to absolutely loving her. From hating the love interest to sympathizing for him and then back to hating him. The fact my trust was established and shattered in so many people in so many ways I JUST CANNOT WITH YOU ANYMORE R. F. KUANG. I don't want to go into a lot of spoilers, but if you are looking at reviews for book 2 I am assuming you have read book 1 and you already know the basic premise. If not lemme quickly recap that this is a story about a girl from a small town who struggles to make her way through the years of war. And she comes out to become one of the most powerful soldiers ever with capabilities that are beyond the understanding of the enemy. I want to quickly add that the universe expands a lot in book two, while there is a magical school setting for the first book, the later ones have a lot more. The stakes are higher, there is a lot more political intrigue and I just couldn't put it down at all. Yes, I read the whole 600+ pages in one day because it's so captivating and I couldn't not know what's about to happen next. Between us, we have the fire and the water. I'm quite sure that together, we can take on the wind. I AM SO MAD AT NEZHA THO I WAS SCREAMING AT HIM ALL THE TIME?? He could have prevented all of it with just one action but no? And yeah he has trauma or whatever but good god i feel Rin's anger is so so justified. Rin was so tired of having to prove her humanity. Would never stop recommending this series ever, if high fantasy/magical school/gods and shamans are something you'd like to read- DO GIVE IT A TRY!! Book Trigger Warnings- Ableism, Abortion (mentioned), Abuse (emotional and physical), Addiction, Animal death, Death (including children), Drugs, Gore, Hallucinations, Human experimentation, Massacres, Mutilation, Murder, Racism, Rape(graphic), Violence, War