amirahazhar's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
- 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
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
courtn58's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, War, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Addiction, Violence, Hate crime, Classism, Genocide, and Drug use
geminireader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I don’t know what book I read but it was not anywhere near the 5 star book people have described it as. I really don’t even know where to start. The main character… I feel absolutely nothing. I’m not even sure I could give more than 2 characteristics that describe her. She is simply there to carry the plot as it must follow a character but I feel nothing for her. Others critique that they dislike her… I am jealous of that because at least they feel something. Dislike is more intriguing than nothing at all. Just absolutely no character development. And are her driving pain really isn’t even her own? Maybe if we got to spend time with her at the beginning or had a more compelling backstory but I really have a hard time even feeling bad for her supposedly abusive childhood. So all her “rage” comes off very superficial and egotistical. I would have rather followed Altan who had a more genuine backstory and understandable rage. I can understand plot-wise why Rin is the choice and not Altan but still. The reader pays for that choice. While we’re at it, a critique of this book is that it doesn’t have romance. I’d argue it has something much worse: it has a feeble “will they won’t they” with the main character and someone who is implied to their sibling/at least related. And when I say feeble, I mean FEEBLE. They barely talk. And quite honestly, the fact that there was even a hint of romance in this book really disgusts me considering the content this book contains. There is so much more issue I have with the “characters” in this book (put in quotations because they are so weak) but we’ve hit a good transition into plot time. The content of this book is devastating and unfortunately, the real atrocities of this book aren’t fiction. As you probably know, this book is derived from the second Sino-Japanese war, which was a really heinous time in all of human history. So, I agree with all the other reviews on here saying the reader takes on some heavy trauma. But what bothers me so much about this, is that I felt so emotional reading this content because it is historical and completely inhuman, not because the writing/story/characters or literally anything about this book made me feel that way. Which I guess brings me to a point where I would have felt nothing from this book or story if it hadn’t contained retellings of real events.
In summary (pat on the back if you actually read this), I am greatly disappointed. I was so excited going into this read. And now I feel guilty tearing it down because it’s an East Asian fantasy that has reached high popularity and has added some much needed diversity to the fantasy section (getting a little tired of the Greek mythology retellings over here). But a book still has to be good. And I would argue this book, objectively, isn’t good. If anyone is curious, I will still be attempting the second book as I’ve read it has major improvements on the first. Funny, im trusting those reviews even after the glowing reviews from the first book betrayed me. But alas, this is how badly I want to like this series. Stay tuned.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Torture, Animal death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, War, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Blood, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, and Racism
space_corgi's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Blood, Drug use, Murder, War, Drug abuse, Gore, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Genocide
Moderate: Classism, Sexual violence, and Rape
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
donzzles's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Spoiler
fang runin girlboss slay go commit your funky little harrowing war crimes queen!Graphic: War, Body horror, Colonisation, Gore, Murder, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, and Genocide
Moderate: Self harm, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence
Minor: Ableism
bekahzabel's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
_justjess's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Drug use, Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, Addiction, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Genocide, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, War, Sexual assault, Violence, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, and Sexual violence
brainrot_197's review against another edition
- 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
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
remasm's review against another edition
- 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
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?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.
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