Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

330 reviews

brainrot_197's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Classism, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, War, Xenophobia, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Torture, and Violence

kc_mellow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.75

Really great start to the trilogy. The commentary on the morals and ethics of war and political strategies was really interesting and gets you thinking about what exactly is the "right" choice the character(s) should make in such a difficult situation. I will say that the ending didn't leave me with much to desire for the second book- the cliffhanger felt a bit weak because it focused on characters that I didn't care about because they weren't fleshed out in previous chapters. Overall though, the writing is phenomenal and is rooted in some historical events during the Sino-Japanese War. The weak cliffhanger doesn't propel me from reading the second book.
Note: be prepared for the graphic content in chapter 21. A lot of is based off true events that occurred during the Rape of Nanjing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Bullying, Child death, War, Genocide, Racism, Murder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Blood

circehighgarden's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was never my kind of genre, and I was shocked to find out that I could actually enjoy something so different. The story was so appealing. The characters felt like real people to me. I don't know how to explain this, but throughout the novel I felt like I was watching a documentary about a past civilization. It felt so real. Hands down, one of the best books I have ever read. I don't know if I am ready to pick the second book tho. I might give myself some time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, War, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Slavery, Bullying, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Rape, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

remasm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative medium-paced

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

4.0

okay, first off, the writing was incredible and the plot was great, but it was a bit questionable.

like, when the author went on for 200 pages about the academy and rin's life there and then 30 pages later a new set of characters is introduced with little to no knowledge about them?? and also, in terms of East Asian history, i've heard mixed opinions.
like, the depiction of the speerlys (or taiwanese people) being considered evil and inhuman, and the author even reinforcing these stereotypes with the main character

Spoiler

when it's revealed that she's a speerly?

like what?
and the rape of Nanjing being used as a gotcha! moment to further enhance the plot, and in the end when rin SUFFOCATES the people of mugen (japan) in the name of revenge for the genocide of Speer??

anyways, if this book wasn't based on the sino-japanese wars and was purely fictional, or was just chinese inspired, it could've been something great. i don't understand claiming the book as "more than fantasy" bc it references modern chinese history when you've changed the names of the nations, added a fanciful element that contradicts the history, and have watered down a few historical events. 


 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Gore, Rape, War, Eating disorder, Racism, Trafficking, Body horror, Addiction, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Genocide, Child abuse, Blood, Violence, Slavery, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, and Bullying

Moderate: Trafficking and Suicide

katemarie99's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

1.5

Not a great time tbh. Might try to push onward into the series now that the worst (??) is over...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, War, Xenophobia, and Rape

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Alcohol, Blood, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexual violence, Addiction, Fatphobia, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Violence

eri002's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, War, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Blood, Grief, Violence, Genocide, Murder, Rape, and Torture

Moderate: Excrement, Classism, Animal death, Alcohol, Bullying, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia

desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

I think the book is well done. The characters are vivid and the story is rich, the chaos and desperation that stems from war seems very realistic, I do have just one subjective opinion, that keeps me from liking this book: everything is so angry and hateful and I am not about that. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Confinement, Slavery, Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Vomit, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gore, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, War, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Rape

enchante's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Addiction, Genocide, Xenophobia, Rape, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Physical abuse and Emotional abuse

dennyiii's review against another edition

dark informative reflective 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

4.0

sudden tone change in the book may not suit everyone, it also gets very graphic so CHECK THE TRIGGER WARNINGS!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, War, Drug use, Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Classism, Emotional abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Violence, Gore, Racism, Sexual assault, and Body horror

cida's review against another edition

Such an interesting composition in terms of mood. The book started of quite “fun” going to classes, school drama etc. and then suddenly plummeted into this fatal seriousness, panic and darkness that only became deeper as the book went on. The change in mood was a shock to the system and worked so incredibly well in conveying the feeling when war suddenly becomes a reality. A great study in power, war, oppression, abuse, trauma and most of all violence. I can’t stretch the violence part quite enough, it was much worse than I thought it would be, explicit and more terrible than any horror film I’ve seen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual violence, Torture, Child death, Classism, Violence, War, Drug abuse, Murder, Colonisation, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Rape, Genocide, and Gore