Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

277 reviews

ehrycyna's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Classism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Addiction, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, War, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

mktraxel's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Classism, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Torture, Vomit, Violence, War, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Abortion, Child abuse, Death of parent, Addiction, Body horror, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Racism, Suicide, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Drug abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

BRUTAL

naturally's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.25

i've made piece with the fact that r.f.kuang's academic prowess is virtually inseparable from her creative writing. she tells stories like she's writing a text book...which isn't necessarily a bad thing! on one hand, there's little room left for subtext and there are times when we are told large blocks of information through character conversations. luckily i had no issue with skim reading bc, i was really invested in the world and the war she's created for the poppy war.

our heroine rin is the perfect shade of grey. the pacing at the beginning of the story was very slow, but i'm glad i stuck with rin's journey. her motivation for wanting to go to the sinegard are simple and strong. the scene where she

self-sterilises was...wow. i wasn't expecting it. but her reasoning was written very convincingly.

. 

the military academy portion was my favourite part of the book, and i think rin made some really touching friendships there. rin's relationships with other characters - specifically jiang and altan added to her complexities. there was so much to analyse, and this is only the first book! (imo rin attributes power with safety, but in actuality, on top is the most dangerous place to be as someone will always seek to rob her of such a high status.)

call me delulu...but i'm convinced that nezha is still alive. and that he will return in book 2. his rivallry with rin really snuck up on me, i wasn't expecting to enjoy their dynamic as much as i did. naturally, there is no place for a romance between them in the midst of so much war and violence. plus, rin's aversion to marriage, fertility etc means there will always be a strong denial from her end.

the revelation that rin was

a speerly felt very...anti-climactic. one character connected the dots, told her she was from speer...and rin just accepted it. from that point onward she was a speerly...

idk...i expected this bombshell to trigger a deep reflection into rin's identity and maybe an exploration of grief. but the overall writing style was a barrier to accessing rin's introspection.

very curious to see how this journey continues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Colonisation, Drug use, Misogyny, Murder, Addiction, Classism, Grief, Racism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Ableism, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

Moderate: Rape and Pregnancy

lighterthaneyre's review

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

4.5

Extremely good. Extremely good. It's clear to me that the main character is supposed to be likeable, but she is not meant to be a good person.

Main Character reflection:

She's terribly clever, but at several points willfully dense. Because sometimes it's easier to not acknowledge truth when anger and retaliation feel so good in the moment. Every warning she gets, she reflects later on with something like regret. It's not regret, it's almost nostalgia for the person she was allowed to be before she choose her path. She's told repeatedly about costs, and refuses to internalize it. But at the same time, the anger and fear and rashness are this very relatable Thing. This series is going to be a tragedy, it seems. Rin will be her own destruction.

Themes:

The way trauma and violence changes Rin is very interesting. She's always been driven (possibly too much) but prior to Golyn Niis, she doesn't react to war with retaliation. She thought striking back against the Federation in Khurdalain was "halfhearted, disrespectful and pointless" (Ch 16). By the end, she's pivoted entirely, so that striking back is the most important thing. More important than safety of her own side, or the ability to live a "avenged" life in peace. There is only the next Real Enemy. I think exploring that change is sort of fascinating. She suffers terrible traumas, but it's pointed out repeatedly that her friends suffered worse. Kitay lived through the actual events of Golyn Niis. Alton spent years enduring torture and more direct memories of the genocide of his people. Not that this is a suffering Olympics, but it's to say that this wasn't inevitable. Some of her friends are horrified by what she's done. And I think is the difference is in the lies Rin tells herself. "I won't go out like this", "power is the only solution", "a good martial artist is a good commander/wise leader". She wants to believe, so she turns off her other lines of thought. And she becomes a monster. A monster who lies and says she's in control.

The trigger warnings are no joke, as a heads up.

The most graphic violence is an after the fact recounting and a review of the aftermath. That being said, it is pure human evil ripped from real life history books. It is the sort of trauma that creates monsters. Even as presented it's pretty disturbing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Grief, Bullying, Classism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, War, and Mental illness

Minor: Drug use, Addiction, and Animal cruelty

hearkenheretic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Self harm, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Blood, Grief, Child death, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Torture, Addiction, Gore, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Medical content and Infertility

kibiiiariii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Drug use, Slavery, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Torture, Trafficking, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child death, Toxic friendship, War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Cursing, and Death

elyanna's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, War, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Torture, Gore, Death, Child death, and Blood

Moderate: Sexism, Self harm, Murder, Slavery, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Rape, and Suicide

Minor: Animal cruelty and Addiction

grizzlysnack'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

5.0

The diction of this book was phenomenal. You're seeing Rin go through 5 years of her life and not feel like you're being rushed through a single moment in any given chapter.

Pacing was wonderfully done as well! As soon as you got a taste for what was about to happen, you're being punched in the gut with what's going on in front of your very eyes. And then you're asking another punch in the face.

The way that emotions are written in this book are beautifully composed. If you're not having the same feeling as a given character in this book, then you're going through your own emotions trying to understand how much cruelty, hatred, or anguish one character could hold inside or inflict on another. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Rape, and Genocide

Moderate: Death, Drug use, and Addiction

Minor: Animal cruelty, Vomit, and Infertility

This book is not a 'happy, feel good' read. There are chapters that will mentally drain you, and those chapters are based on real events in China, during World War II. Don't read this if you're in a bad headspace.

shannon336's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Child death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Torture, Violence, War, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Blood, Colonisation, Addiction, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

melizzya's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wanted to love this book and I did, with a small exception. I appreciated its social critique and historical inspiration from the second Sino-Japanese war and even did some additional research to verify the real events and their historical context. If you are interested, I highly recommend reading readbytiffany's blogpost about The Poppy War.

The narrative doesn't shy away from harsh realities, particularly the parallel to the Rape of Nanjing in Chapter 21. This section was especially difficult to digest due to its graphic depiction of war crimes, making me wish I could have skipped it. However, it did contribute to Rin's character development, and helped me better understand her character arc, so I didn't find it completely unnecessary. 

Unfortunately, I didn't connect deeply with most characters, except for Rin, and I hope they'll develop further in the second part. Despite this, I couldn't put the book down and loved the blend of history, shamanism, and ancient gods. It is not an easy read, definitely not for the faint hearted but I still recommend giving it a try. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Genocide, War, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Rape and Self harm