Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

577 reviews

abbycole's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Addiction, Racism, Physical abuse, War, Sexual violence, Classism, Blood, Murder, Hate crime, Grief, Child death, Rape, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Death, and Animal death

secretgoldfish's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

I've never read a book where I didn't know who to root for by the end. I've also never read a book that went from 0 to 100 so fast.
The vibe of this book is the scene in Mulan where they're singing about girls and then they come over the hill and see the village burned to the ground.
Its so sudden. So jarring. And so intense. I loved every second of this book. Its so real and mystical at the same time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Vomit, Bullying, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, War, Addiction, Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, Classism, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Child death, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

themadbloodstone's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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? Yes

5.0

I was never a real fan of fantasy books. They all felt the same to me and I always struggled reading them. However, The Poppy War was refreshing, unpredictable, and beautifully written. It did not shy away from the horrors of genocide and the aftermath of genocide, using Rin’s character development to symbolize the effects of war.
Even though there were some flaws in this book (such as the author reusing the same similes within pages of another or the odd will-they-won’t-they between Rin and Altan and Nezha), R.F. Kuang’s debut novel is definitely deserving of 5/5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Genocide, Death, Rape, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, Bullying, and Classism

Moderate: Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Mental illness, and Addiction

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Death of parent

etoilexlune's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

(keeping the 0.25 because I can see so much potential for being even better)

it is fascinating, grand and so impressive
shows raw war, ruthless reality of a genocide, results of a nation-wide propaganda, systematic conformism and objectification of masses known to chinese history

rf kuang made me believe this really could have happened, the only anchor keeping me to the ground was the presence of shamanism (the “magic”)

I feel like I just listened to a whole series of books, it was so saturated

being incredibly honest in descriptions, it didn’t feel like seeking sensations, purely shocking, rather they are an inseparable part of the story

every single character has a purpose and substance
nothing happens out of the blue, just to push the plot forward (at least it doesn’t feel like that)

I love the serious, mature tone and behaviours while maintaining the nature of teenagers

there is practically no romance apart from slight physical attraction, no emphasis on that, which makes the story feel authentic

I love rf kuang
her literature is not easy to consume but how rewarding and magnificent

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Body horror, War, Rape, Murder, Animal death, Self harm, and Addiction

amirahazhar's review against another edition

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 against another edition

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 against another edition

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

giorgiagale's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Torture, and War

Moderate: Physical abuse and Self harm