Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

1040 reviews

amirahazhar's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I know I'm late to the party but I just finished this today. Inspired largely by 20th century Chinese history (think the Opium Wars, but with ancient gods and mythological creatures), the countries of the Poppy War have clear parallels to China, Japan, and Europe. In the early 20th century, China's Qing Dynasty fell, ending thousands of years of rule by emperors thought to be the sons of heaven.

Politics and military strategy play a major role in this story. R.F.Kuang also touched a lot on classism, colorism, colonialism, and the collateral damage of unnecessary wars that span through generations, which I appreciated.

I can't recommend this book enough. To say that I'm blown away would be an understatement, especially owing to the fact that this is R.F. Kuang's debut novel, and she started writing it at 19! So excited to read the rest of this trilogy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Blood, Suicide, Racism, Pregnancy, Addiction, Sexual violence, Self harm, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Body horror, War, Violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Child death, Rape, Vomit, Trafficking, Infertility, Grief, Gore, Genocide, and Drug use

lorie266's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Genocide, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, War, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Blood, Classism, Murder, and Physical abuse

marianaribeiro's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Blood, Violence, Sexual assault, Child death, War, Drug use, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Addiction, Death, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail

alyssa_simard's review

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racism, Animal death, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Gore, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, War, Torture, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

_mariaen_'s review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Sometimes the main character’s choices made me want to throw the book out the window but otherwise the books really good

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Physical abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Grief, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Child death, Child abuse, Cursing, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

vic_ct's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I went in totally blind to this & it was one of the most intense books I’ve read - the world building & the lore was fascinating and so different to any fantasy I’ve read. Rin’s character development was so interesting and tragic watching her sink deeper into her anger and power. Not a read that I rushed through but I’m really looking forward to see how the story continues as I really haven’t been able to predict the plot at all so far. I don’t have a huge stomach for graphic violence so did a bit of skim reading here & there but this book really grapples with the horrors of war and the what it’s like to come of age in a war

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Torture, Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Genocide, Gore, and Death

maja__'s review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, War, and Violence

persephonefoxx's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, War, Murder, Death, Torture, Violence, and Genocide

Moderate: Medical content, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Child death, Colonisation, and Sexual assault

courtn58's review

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, War, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Addiction, Violence, Hate crime, Classism, Genocide, and Drug use

annaisernia's review

The scenes of genocide were so graphic that I can't convince myself to read further in fear that it gets worse (because it feels like it's not going to get better).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Gore, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Genocide, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Hate crime

Moderate: Rape