Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

271 reviews

dreamreader's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-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

3.5

Definitely deserves all the hype it gets, and I would have no problem recommending this to people, but it wasn't really for me. I debated for a long time if I should even read this, and throughout the first part I was so glad I did, because I really liked the first part. It was an easy five stars. And then the second and third parts happened, and it felt like I was reading an entirely different book. I didn't like that a whole new cast of characters was introduced midway through. It was so jarring. And I was very confused by Rin's obsessive love for Altan. I think that part of the story would have worked much better if she had spent any time with him at school. He never felt like a real character to me. And actually, my major problem with the second and third parts of this book is that I just didn't care at all, no matter how dark things got (and they got suuuuuuper dark). I felt fully detached and in the end I actively disliked Rin. I think she would have worked for me more as a central character if her motivations were explored with any nuance at all, but it's just a constant "I want power!" without the necessary examination of what that means and why she wants it. Readers are left to just infer, which I did, but it wasn't really enough. I bounced off the end of this book pretty hard. HOWEVER. I still think this book will land for tons of readers. So if you've been curious, give it a try, and mind the content warnings. They are not a joke. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gore, Medical trauma, Blood, Genocide, Torture, War, Violence, and Addiction

melissafelicia's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

At the start of this book, I thought it might be a 5 star read, because the worldbuilding was SO interesting. I loved how complicated the politics were and I can't imagine how much research into battle tactics went into writing this book.
However, the character growth went a different way than I expected or would have hoped, which made the book frustrating at times. It was also waaayyy darker and graphically violent than I expected (that's on me for not wanting to spoil myself and not reading any of the reviews or authors' statements about trigger warnings). I still think it's a very well written book and an interesting world and I'm curious how the story will continue, but I might need to take a little break before starting part 2.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Rape, Gore, Self harm, Sexual assault, War, Death, Genocide, Grief, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Addiction, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail

bekahzabel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? No

5.0

I have unlocked new levels of love and pain.

The Poppy War was on a completely different plane than most books I’ve read this year, in a good way. This was a heart wrenching literary masterpiece to me. A 6 star book. Military fantasy meets magic & the spiritual realm. Not sure I can put into words how much I loved this entire storyline, but I am BROKEN. 

Imma have to give myself a break in between to heal before I start Dragon Republic because my world just got ROCKED. If you heard this was good they lied, it’s great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Drug use, Abandonment, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Genocide, and Grief

Moderate: Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, War, and Rape

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I think that this was a good fantasy epic, more akin to grim dark or horror than high fantasy elements would have led me to believe. 

I enjoyed that the author really gave us a morally corrupt character arc, and threw a lot of questions about the ethics of war and war tactics. 

I wish that the character of Rin was a bit more consistent throughout the novel, in her unwavering strength. I feel like the first and last third see her with the willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed. 

Really reminded me of the quote: “You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” This definitely challenged the view of the hero’s revenge quest trope, and if the means to get there are worth the cost. 

I would have rated this higher if it had a little bit less of the graphic depictions of what happened in a specific genocide. I think it’s possible to mention the atrocities without painting so bleak a picture in what I can only assume are very triggering ways. I’ll see how the rest of the series plays out, but I’ve liked Kuang’s other writing, so hoping it the other books are better for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, and Genocide

Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, Rape, and Medical trauma

Minor: Child death, Animal death, Colonisation, and Fire/Fire injury

While it is off-page and not from a POV, there is sequence that a character describes the assault of women who are prisoners of war it gets graphic, but can be skipped and will not change the narrative of the genocide at

Spoiler

Gyolin Niis

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

5nazzyf0x's review against another edition

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

1.75

A hard book to read. Sounds dumb but it's only war there is not break from it, and it is extremely graphic which I was not prepared for. Both those aspects really aren't for me they are the genre I hate the most but it was written really well from a literary perspective. But safe to say I will not be finishing this series. I really wanted to love it as I hear people rave about it all the time but it's just not my cup of tea. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, War, Medical trauma, Excrement, Colonisation, Grief, Infertility, Murder, Slavery, Violence, Death, Animal death, Blood, Child death, and Genocide

lillypillygooseberry's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

3.75

lots of horrific imagery in this book. Definitely read the trigger warnings, especially if you identify as female: I consider myself pretty numb to most things in book but some of the descriptions were truly horrifying, especially because they are based on real-life events.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Self harm, Sexual assault, Confinement, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Colonisation, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, War, Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, and Infertility

thelittlewolf45's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

"Fear was impossible to eradicate. But so was the will to survive."

CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE YOU PROCEED TO READ THIS BOOK

Wow this book was - wow. I had heard of the hype of this book with BookTok and Bookstagram and part of me worried that it was just another hype book that wouldn't be all that shit. That was not the case. This book is an amazing - very historically accurate - fantasy retelling of the Sino - Japanese war with very obvious inspirations from the Opium Wars and both World Wars. As a historian, this made me INCREDIBLY happy. I know Kuang herself is a historian and I can tell that she researched and used as much history as she could to make a fantastic fantasy.

There was so much to this book that just made the story incredibly fascinating to read and enjoy. I did myself a serious disservice reading The Fourth Wing before I read this cause this is what Fourth Wing was trying to be. This is what I say when I want a fantasy war story. I felt for the struggles of each of the characters. The feeling of not being connected to your own country from Rin really hit me where it hurt. Having to be the absolute best at everything so they don't take advantage of you, having to be absolute best so you can finally get the validation you so badly crave. Fang Runin is an incredibly endearing character to me. 

Throughout the book, Kuang does not shy away from the horrors of war. That there are no "good" sides of war. It has such a strong anti-war message but still carried all those fantasy elements that I commonly enjoy. Fantasy like this is always political and Kuang does not shy away from that. She knows the history and turned that history into a COMPELLING fantasy.

Unlike The Fourth Wing, the characters in this story were all different and unique while still being compelling. Kitay is one of my favorites and after everything, I ended up feeling for Nezha. My favorite overall was Jiang. He reminded me so much of my favorite bathsit professor in college. Atlan was also rounded out and just - not the booktok steryotype that I expected him to fall into.

I was also shocked that there was no romance in this book. I was SURE that this book would have romance in it. These book ALWAYS have romance in them. But no. I personally really related to Rin just getting her first period and going "ew fuck that" and getting a form of a hysterectomy. Me too Rin, me too. 

I understood the anger of the characters. I understood the emotions and the hate and the fear and the disgust. I understood the motivations of these characters. I see where they come from. 

This is arguably one of my top books I've ever read. Def one of my top fantasy book - up there with The Priory of the Orange Tree and The Witcher. It is a must read for anyone who's into fantasy and history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, War, Violence, Drug abuse, Genocide, Drug use, and Racism

Moderate: Medical trauma, Rape, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

Yeah check the trigger warnings

logicsmessystudy's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Genocide, Gore, War, Torture, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Confinement, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Violence, Vomit, and Rape

punkoverlord'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, and Colonisation