Lia Carstairs's Reviews > The Burning God

Guys, this was the happiest book ever!! Happy ending! Happy characters! Happy everything! Kuang couldn't have written it better! Everyone's happy, safe... I dont know why people are saying this is heartbreaking? If anything, it's heartwarming!

My heart totally didn't feel like it was being ripped out of my chest and thrown into a shredder! I totally did not go to sleep crying and wake up again crying! I totally don't feel like I need someone to pay for my therapy bills!

No, not at all.

I'm completely fine.


yea no, I feel like I'm dying. I am dying. This pain should be illegal. What is happiness? This is so depressing. And me, the masochist, keeps going back to the last two chapters *sobs* what am I doing to myself?

Please end me.


Funny how I said that reading Clockwork Princess, The Hero of Ages (etc) were the most I've ever cried -- HA I lied. No book like The Burning God's ending has ever made me sob this much. I am dead. It's to the point where every single time I close my eyes, I picture the ending and that is not okay. Kuang, what have you done to me???

There's no peace, only pain. This has quite literally left a scar on my heart and soul forever. Not only did Kuang bury the knife deep into my heart, but she twisted it causing me excruciating pain.

I actually can't think about this book without crying, so this review is basically me as an emotional wreck. Sorry but not really in advance.

(Also, there are no spoilers in this review until the end when I give out the warning!!)

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“The point of revenge wasn’t to heal. The point was that the exhilaration, however temporary, drowned out the hurt.”

This whole journey has been full of trust, love, hatred, revenge, pain... I've never before seen such a story have so many complex issues. It's astounds me.

Rin's character has developed so much. I can't believe this all started with poor 14 year old Rin who just wanted to get out of marriage by studying to enroll in Sinegard... to this. It breaks my heart when I see how much she's gone through.

And it's not just Rin. Kitay, Venka, Nezha, Altan, the Cike... they've all suffered so much throughout the whole series. Kuang is a demon with her characters. There's literally nobody in this trilogy who hasn't suffered. Of course, some had it coming and deserved it, but others... *sobs* no, no, they definitely didn't deserve that.


I swear, it brought me so much joy seeing Rin finally accept who she was and where she came from, and be proud of it. These last two books, she'd constantly be insulted because of her dark-skin and having come from Tikany, a poor village in Rooster Province. Because of this, she hated herself and thought the others to be superior, trying to cut all ties with her former village.

However, here Rin learned to embrace it all. She accepted everything that she was and most importantly, she did not bow to anyone. Rin's now chooses to be in command.

No longer would she be the submissive fool she once was. although she still makes some pretty dumb mistakes She leads. She gives the orders. She deals out the punishments. I literally love this girl.

And after the ending of The Dragon Republic, I was so looking forward to retribution. I am not completely satisfied, but satisfied enough. The pain she dealt to certain people was amazing. My only complaint was that it wasn't dragged out longer for a certain person :' (

“It doesn’t go away. It never will. But when it hurts, lean into it. It’s so much harder to stay alive. That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to live. It means you’re brave.”

Please, Kitay actually deserves everything. While I had conflicted feelings throughout this series about Rin, Nezha, and others -- my love for Kitay was the only constant. When I say not one moment did I hate him, I mean not one moment.

From the moment I met this cinnamon roll in The Poppy War, I fell in love and automatically knew he had to be protected at all costs.

Literally their friendship was so heartbreaking and beautiful. Watching them argue over and over again, but then come back still loving the other so much ohmygod-

This. THIS is literally a perfect example on how platonic love can be just as amazing, actually even better , than a romantic one. I love it. I love it. I love it so much.

Kitay was the anchor to Rin's sanity. He'd always try preventing her from making rash and stupid decisions. He's her moral conscience.

Can I just please go back to the first book? I thought TPW was horrifying and depressing, AHAHA what a joke, TPW is heaven compared to the rest of the series.

I want my children to stay happy together at Sinegard *sobs* this torture. Erase everything that's happened after that moment. I want a Kitay. My baby-


Also it was amazing learning so much more about the Trifecta. Their history, the missions they made, each and every one of them and how they acted... all I have to say is damn. (view spoiler)[And I can't believe how much my opinion has changed after TPW, but it hurt seeing both Jiang and Daji die. Rija deserved to die though. As soon as he treated Rin like that, I NEEDED him to die and thankfully it happened, but at the cost of Daji and Jiang *cries* (hide spoiler)]


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(🛑MAJOR SPOILERS for the end of TBG start here!! Skip to the bottom if you don't want to be spoiled🛑)

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"Dying was easy. Living was so much harder—that was the most important lesson Altan had ever taught her."

So you're telling me, all that hard work, all that pain, torture, and suffering, all those years of war....

ONLY for Kitay and Rin to die like that???

They beat the Hesperians in battle, but in the end, it was because of the famine and damage Nikan took, that the Hesperians ended up winning and I am forever destroyed.

BUT IT MAKES SENSE AND THATS WHAT HURTS THE MOST.

But all those memories they had together in the span of those 5 years -- some good, mostly bad, BUT STILL. they were memories of them suffering together and I am not okay.

And the fact that Kitay and Rin's last moments together were of them fighting breaks every part of me beyond recognition. IT HURTS. Rin thinking Kitay betrayed her ohmygod PLEASE STOP THIS PAIN.

And the fact that Kitay's last words in this world were "You're hurting me" to Rin absolutely destroys me and I am sobbing.

The way I can imagine Kitay's pained expression so clearly I SWEAR ITS KILLING ME. PLEASE OMG.

And can I just say -- Rin literally chose death over surrendering to the Hesperians/cooperating with them. The way she knew that this fighting would never end if she lived and never surrendered. It honestly would've been so wrong if she'd given up to them, but she really went ahead and said "I'd rather die than bow down to these bastards." She literally sacrificed herself in hopes for a better world, knowing she wouldn't be the one to do it. AND I RESPECT THAT SO MUCH, BUT IT HURTS. She died on Speerly, and I died with her.

AND I CAN'T BELIEVE OUT OF ALL OF THEM, ONLY NEZHA SURVIVED. (Although I honestly shouldn't be surprised) Venka my baby, also died and it was so heartbreaking that she died Rin thinking she was a traitor like hell no WHY?! Venka didn't deserve that, Kitay didn't deserve that, what the hell. While Rin got out of bowing to the Hesperians, Nezha's going to have to so honestly, nevermind, that's torture itself. I could never.

It actually broke me even before the deaths started. They were all so so depressed at the end, suffered so so much, and I hate this so much, but it was so realistic.

They've all come a long way from the children they once were.

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🛑SPOILERS HAVE ENDED🛑

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“You never want to hurt them. But you have to. You have to put them through hell, because that’s the only way anyone else will survive.”

Oh no, I'm quite certain Kuang wanted to hurt us. We were put through hell and none of us survived, but still... this author has my heart.

I swear, if I was rating the ending itself I'd 100% give this 5 stars, but unfortunately I'm not and I have to say that some parts in the book dragged out a lot, especially during the many marches. Don't get me wrong, they were interesting, but my mind drifted a lot.

However, despite me giving this 4.5 stars, this is most definitely an all-time-favourite because that ending broke my heart into more pieces than I could've possibly imagined. It was a sob-fest. And I even knew how this was going to end so I prepared myself but that didn't work at all. Kuang is both a genius and a monster.

I hate that I can never read more about these fleshed out and glorious characters. I hate that even if I re-read, it'll never be the same. I hate this so much, because I do not want to part with them.

But you know what, even thinking all of that I regret nothing. If anything, I regret not reading this series sooner. I will forever be grateful for the pain beautiful story Kuang has created and I know that whatever series she's going to make next will be just as painful beautiful.

Go ahead and ruin me, Kuang.

“Do it. Take what you want... I’ll hate you for it. But I’ll love you forever. I can’t help but love you.

Ruin me, ruin us, and I’ll let you.”

(4.5⭐)


Honourable mention: I'm forever grateful to the best demon out there Mashie for being there for me while I screamed, raged, laughed, and cried. You truly made this book even more amazing than I could've imagined. Thank you so much🥺 I couldn't have possibly survived the aftermath of the ending if it weren't for you.💙


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Pre-read Review:

At long last, I am reading this.

kuang, please don't kill me haha what a joke

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Reviews:
The Poppy War: ★★★★.5
The Dragon Republic: ★★★★★
The Burning God: ★★★★.5