Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

172 reviews

amphiptere's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring 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

4.75

A very imaginative, unique take on some very heavy topics in modern Chinese history. I thoroughly enjoyed trying to guess what characters or events paralleled actual people and events while reading it. It's not a strict 1:1, but if you're familiar with the history, you can see it (and I especially liked how the book got me interested in looking up history I was less familiar with, such as the background of Taiwan). 

The book is broken into three parts and takes a pretty drastic tonal and thematic shift from part one to part two. Ultimately, that worked for me, but if you adore part one, this isn't what the rest of the book is. 

What I most enjoyed was how the element of sexism was explored. This book very much captures what it feels like to be the recipient of sexist (and classiest and racist) attitudes from a perspective that always emphasizes the humanity of the targets of such, while simultaneously and relentlessly showing how bogus those beliefs are. And in a truly grounded way without relying on a laughably cartoonist single villain to represent all the "bad" attitudes with the "hero" being so obviously better and self-righteous. I really connected to the tone and mood. And the anger this all elicits. This is a book about anger. But it's also about so much more. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Classism, Misogyny, Rape, Racism, Sexism, and Bullying

flamesocks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense

• 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: Child death, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Child abuse, Classism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, and War

samuslovski's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious relaxing tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Violence, Gore, Racism, and Sexism

sinnh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, War, Murder, Infertility, Sexual violence, Torture, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Child abuse, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Bullying, Death, and Blood

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

nkkapalabro's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense fast-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

4.5

It’s amazing but it’s also an intense book. If you’re okay to read about the atrocities of war and the horrors of mankind (especially towards women), you’ll find it in this book. It was incredibly well written but I needed to take a break a few times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Addiction, Death, Murder, Sexism, Torture, Drug use, Genocide, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, and War

elizabeth_lepore'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Genocide, War, Gore, Death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence, Addiction, Rape, Bullying, and Sexism

cowboylikestoread43's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Genocide, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

jessicaludden's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

“War doesn’t determine who’s right. War determines who remains.”

Oh this was insane. I feel like I’ve lived so many lives with Rin in one book. This book destroyed the idea of destiny in favor of this idea that we make decisions that lead us to where we are and Rin embraces that entirely. It starts with Rin’s coming of age and as the story progresses it turns into her loss of innocence. I loved the war and politics in this combined with elements of shamanism and divine entities. It kept me on the edge of my seat and surprised me in many ways. It’s also interesting to see the power dynamics in different relationships within this story and how they impact the characters and shift as time goes on. Overall, I will be thinking about this for a while and I’m excited for the next one.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Gore, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Vomit, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Physical abuse, Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Body horror, Child death, Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, and War

jesseeeka's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Self harm, Cursing, War, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Vomit, Sexual violence, Bullying, Classism, Child death, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Slavery, Confinement, and Dementia

Minor: Excrement and Infertility