Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

1292 reviews

moonlighttreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

it was a journey. it started off exciting and fun and ended up shocking and dark. the writing was beautiful, the characters realistic and their inner worlds were explored in depth. the plot was fast paced and full. 

the .25 are for some part in the middle of the book where i felt like it felt a bit flat for a few pages. also the magic system could have been explored and explained more.

do recommend (check the tws though!!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Gore, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Murder, Blood, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, War, Genocide, Xenophobia, Racism, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

bgkent6's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Rating this book felt very complicated for me. Did I enjoy reading this book? No. Did I like the MC? Not really. Did I feel compelled to keep going and couldn’t really put it down? Yes. Do I think it is important? Yes. Would I recommend it to the right person? Yes. Do I feel like I was deeply impacted by reading it? Yes. 
The first half of this book really brought me in and I loved it. The second got dark, and when I didn’t think it could get darker, it did. 

The trigger warnings are very real for this book. It is not for everyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Genocide, Addiction, War, Body horror, Drug use, Death, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Torture and Abandonment

rach_reads_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Death, Child death, Addiction, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Grief, and Drug abuse

lay_kone's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, War, Violence, Death, Child death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, Addiction, Drug use, Torture, Colonisation, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexual assault

lavendermoons's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I loved the world-building, turns out I love historical books! At least this one. I found myself sometimes annoyed by Rin, especially towards the ending. The second half was hard to stomach, it really shows how cruel, devastating and not black-and-white war really is. I would have loved more exploration of the side characters!

Spoiler

Especially Nezha's redemption arc was way too short, but something tells me he's not dead...

Guess I have to read the second part of the series right away lol.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, War, and Death

Moderate: Torture

joepyeweed's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

I don’t know how to feel about this book. I liked the characters and the school/martial arts part. But the genocide was too graphic.

I did appreciate the way the author balanced Rin’s character development; even though she becomes more and more morally grey and winds up committing terrible atrocities in war, somehow I still cared about her. If anything, the trajectory of becoming both more powerful and more traumatized made her a more compelling character. I didn’t always like her, but I am invested.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Rape, Drug use, Gore, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Torture, Violence, and War

lyrapollock's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Death, Genocide, Drug abuse, Torture, Drug use, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Colonisation, War, Torture, Slavery, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Abandonment, Violence, Racism, Murder, Dementia, Child death, and Blood

selfishidol's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Child death, Death, Drug use, Murder, Rape, and Sexual violence

grizzlysnack's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

The diction of this book was phenomenal. You're seeing Rin go through 5 years of her life and not feel like you're being rushed through a single moment in any given chapter.

Pacing was wonderfully done as well! As soon as you got a taste for what was about to happen, you're being punched in the gut with what's going on in front of your very eyes. And then you're asking another punch in the face.

The way that emotions are written in this book are beautifully composed. If you're not having the same feeling as a given character in this book, then you're going through your own emotions trying to understand how much cruelty, hatred, or anguish one character could hold inside or inflict on another. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Rape, and Genocide

Moderate: Death, Drug use, and Addiction

Minor: Animal cruelty, Vomit, and Infertility

This book is not a 'happy, feel good' read. There are chapters that will mentally drain you, and those chapters are based on real events in China, during World War II. Don't read this if you're in a bad headspace.

skorned's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Murder, Torture, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual violence, Death, and War

Minor: Rape