A review by random_spider
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense slow-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

So, after I finished reading, I opened Goodreads to read others' perspectives. There I found that The Poppy War was disturbingly controversial towards its take on true historical events (specifically the Second Sino-Japanese War.) This analysis isn't about those since I ain't the most viable individual to discuss that topic. I'm just here to talk about the book as is.

"What does it matter? They're coming, and we're staying, and at the end of the day whoever is alive is the side that wins. War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who remains."

Premise/Synopsis:
Fang Runin (aka Rin) pushed to enroll in an elite military school to escape her miserable life as a war orphan. While in her studies, she discovers something unique about herself. What she found out is becoming of crucial matter as the rumors of an incoming war against their old foe turn into actuality.

The Good and The Bad:
There are a lot of good things this Grimdark, War and Fantasy Epic (disguised as YA) did exceptionally. Many were given but still deserving mentions. Can we talk about the world-building first? Despite being at a singular third person limited perspective, it still managed to fleshed out the grandness of its universe then pumped it with life. The markets, school, festival, cities, history, and beliefs/mythologies were rich with details inspired by east asian cultures. And the fact that the readers' focus was Rin, someone who felt she doesn't belong, exemplified the scale organically. I was in love at the effort in writing the art of combat as a science. Major themes of the book included Inequality/Discrimination, Drug Addiction, Power, War, and Colonialism.

This could be a warning but R.F. Kuang does not hold back on her writings. What I meant was that she wasn't afraid to go dark. This book wasn't for a faint of heart. Gritty mature topics based on true historical events were main subjects in its narrative, and they were consistent all throughout the pages. The book effortlessly convinced me it didn't belonged to a YA genre not only because of a single infamous, macabre and graphic chapter. I won't give trigger warnings (since I appreciate the shock value for everyone)...so beware.

This book was worthy of each reading second. It was surprisingly layered, with many of its scenes and interactions possessing substantial depth. The plot, overall, was brutal AND I LOVE It!!! There was both subtlety and boldness on delivering its messages, and what had written directly or indirectly made more sense upon hindsight. The characters was subverted and quiet realistic. And it made the right move to be morally ambiguous. While reading you could understand all sides of arguements between the characters, having at least a decent rationale. This erected sublime thought-provoking debates flowing alongside the story. Just WOW.

Yeah, I came into terms concerning this. Before picking up the book, my expectations were through the roof. I was deadass expecting it would topple my read rankings and claim the top 1 by default. But as implied, that didn't happened for a few good reasons.

1. First was pacing. It was odd, to say the least. I had thought the transition into war was too abrupt, but upon further consideration it was actually realistic for chaos occurring out of nowhere. No...my pacing problems was at the beginning and end of the book. Too much exposition and too many events crammed respectively. There's also a sense of rush from time to time.

2. Is Rin's character intentionally inconsistent/divided at the end? If so, then i shouldn't be writing this. But I don't give benefit of the doubt. Yeah, her character and her arc have been perfect...until the last chunks of pages where she broke them insensibly. Like huh — what and why are you acting/saying this???

3. There was a couple of random stuff that happened which could have been cut with little to no consequences. Idk...they just felt a bit unnecessary. I believe some of them were set-up for the sequels, but whatever. Regardless, they broke the reading trance.

Final Thoughts:
Despite faulty towards the end, Rin's character was amazingly written overall. The supporting characters were good and full of quirks. The magic system was perfectly enough to warrant neither convolution nor simplicity. This whole book was great, and I'm not surprised why it garnered much acclamation. Taking into account that this was R.F. Kuang's debut novel, it's pretty impressive. It's just not my personal favorite, though I'm eager to read the sequels. I'm still continuing blind, so I have no idea whether the inspiration from historical context continues or not.

Rating: It resides on the lowest end of 9/10.