Reviews tagging 'War'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

1590 reviews

waffleita's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, War, Gore, and Genocide

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual assault, and Drug abuse

brynalexa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No

4.0

This was gripping from the start. I don’t generally read war novels so this may be a bit naive but it was overly gruesome. I was lucky enough to have someone time out parts to skip. There were some twists I didn’t see coming but also some that I did. Very excited to move on the the second book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Bullying, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, War, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Genocide, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence

charlie_reads101's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.25

barely know how to describe my experience reading this book… I definitely went into it somewhat blind, not expecting how dark and adult fantasy "The Poppy War" actually is, but I ended up really enjoying it. It is so different from what I have read before but I really respect the story R.F. Kuang brought to us and I am going straight into the second book "the Dragon Republic".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, War, Murder, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Drug use, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Sexual violence, Addiction, Bullying, Violence, and Sexual assault

winterwoodbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The beginning and end were really strong, however the middle part felt a bit like a disjointed slump.
Whlile I always want to give the benefit of believing that maybe that was just how the character felt, this does not seem to be the case here.

Spoiler

The Fact, that there were mere chapters between the setup of the facility and arriving there annoyed me SO much. And then they were out again just as fast, ugh

One of the strongest parts of this book is the bluntness of talking about themes- as well as just vivid and brutal pictures, actually depicturing horrors and topics often glossed over. I have to mention the feminism here, loved everything about it!
Overall a great book with some annoying points, I am interested to see more and hope for an in depth journey of the mind of our main character!

Spoiler

The worst part were the animal deaths tho :c

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Animal death, Suicide, Slavery, Blood, Death, Abandonment, War, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Murder, Infertility, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Cursing, Body horror, Hate crime, Violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Rape, Mental illness, Excrement, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Animal cruelty, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Drug abuse, Child death, and Abortion

book_lover707's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

this book is insane, the characters, plot, world building, everything.
it’s also probably the darkest thing i’ve ever read. sometimes i read trigger warnings and find they don’t really happen in the book, but trust me, you’ll want to take all the trigger warnings very seriously with this one, especially as it’s based off real events. watch out for chapter 21.
despite making me feel like throwing up, this made me forget i was reading. it felt so real and raw, the characters so complex. i’m scared what will come next in book 2, but it feels like a crime to not give it a go.
the first part of the book is a very different tone from the other 2 parts, so don’t get used to it. and i do hear what people say about the tone being confused, but i thought the contrast was an accurate portrayal of the shock and devastation of war and how it can change lives.
if you think you’re up for it, read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Rape, War, Gore, Violence, Torture, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Drug use, and Body horror

wishbish's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, and Sexual assault

thatnewbooksmell's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

It’s heavy like heavy and some parts of the book I don’t think i’ll ever be able to scrub from my brain but it’s truly an amazingly written book that I think really shows the horrific reality of war. The spiritual part was genius and felt natural to the overall lore as sometimes in fantasy books it can feel off. On to read the second book wish me luck 🥲🫠

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Content Warnings

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

tariana's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Despite the fact that sometimes I thought the book was too much focused on explaining war strategies, which turned out to be boring, the story as a whole is very interesting and it kept me reading non stop. The end of the second part is kind of gore, I had to stop to breathe otherwise I’d have thrown up. I still haven’t decided if I like Rin or not, she is so smart but some times she makes some stupid decisions (but she’s only 18, so I’ll give her a break).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Gore, Genocide, Abortion, Addiction, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pedophilia, Violence, Torture, War, and Xenophobia

hailstorm3812's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I was having such a good time for the first 80% of this book and really didn't get the War Crimes Book reputation. Then the last 20% hit. Oh my god. Like it's so good but oh my god I get it now. The characters are so interesting and the setting and magic system are great, but oh god. I will be reading the next book but I need a minute.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Hate crime, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Gore, Genocide, Addiction, Rape, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Torture, Sexual assault, Death, Colonisation, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Animal death and Pregnancy

wheatleypurin's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

4 stars because it's aight but it's helping me write. I hate nezha

fyi the sexual assault isn't depicted on screen but one of the characters describe their trauma in graphic details. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, War, Violence, Rape, and Drug use

Moderate: Drug abuse