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lindseyhall44's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Gore, Rape, Excrement, Drug abuse, War, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Torture, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Murder, Grief, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Confinement, Child death, Blood, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
averyadventurous's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Genocide, Violence, War, Drug use, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Torture, Body horror, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Infertility, Sexual violence, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Child death, Addiction, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
readwithsophsx'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
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death, War, Child death, Torture, Violence, Rape, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Drug use, Slavery, Physical abuse, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Drug abuse, Self harm, Murder, Medical trauma, and Cursing
manicake's review against another edition
4.0
I truly loved part one, and thought it would set the tone for the rest of the story. Boy, was I wrong. I really struggled with part two, both because it was confusing to me but also because I had to take a moment to grieve what I thought the book was gonna be like. And it was really dark and have parallels to real life atrocities that truly twist my stomach and keep me up at night. Everything tied in splendidly in part three and even though I thought this series wasn’t for me I’ll continue reading it.
I’m beyond impressed that this was the authors debut novel published before her 22nd birthday! The complex world building and magic system, knowledge of warfare, drugs and trauma - and the writing style. Absolutely gobsmacked!
I recommend everyone who is affected by triggers to look them up before embarking on this journey of a book, and to stick it out if it should feel rough!
Graphic: Death, Self harm, War, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Confinement, Rape, Body horror, Child death, Torture, Murder, Child abuse, and Genocide
danisaur's review
- 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: Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Self harm, Sexual assault, Racism, Rape, Addiction, Sexual violence, Infertility, Drug use, Death, Child death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Drug abuse, Blood, War, Violence, Genocide, Confinement, Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Alcohol
graffitithesky's review
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Drug use, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Colonisation, Genocide, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Classism, Cursing, and Racism
Pulls from real events from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanjing, graphic depictions of brutality, murder, and outright genocide.chiaraculpo's review
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Kidnapping, Self harm, Colonisation, Genocide, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Racism, Rape, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Violence, Addiction, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Animal death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Infertility, War, Abandonment, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Vomit
katrod's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
First, it read like all 3 books of a trilogy. It was just wayyyyy too much for one book, without getting some of the human relationship details I love. It was literally just war. I felt like our main character had 3 almost fleshed out relationships, but besides that, she kind of lived in a vacuum.
Second, the amount of real history that Kuang used as inspiration for the book was extremely graphic and detailed and felt wrong in the context of a fantasy book (that starts off with her innocently taking a test to get into school at the age of 16… it goes from 0-100 real quick). I didn’t know about the Massacre of Nanking and other details from the second Sino-Japanese war in the early 20th century. Kuang drew heavily from these events in her writing of The Poppy War. I can see why she wanted to write about it and bring awareness to such a heinous part of human history. I just really felt uncomfortable reading about it through the lens of a fantasy novel. And there was nothing about the book or descriptions that prepared me for that or for how absolutely horrifying and disturbing some of the things she describes are. Seriously… just google trigger warnings and this book. It’s like every trigger you could ever think of.
Third, I had no one to root for. I’m all for writing about flawed characters, but I felt like I truly had no one I could get behind. And Rin, our main character, kind of flip flopped a lot. Sometimes she behaved in a way that made her seem really sensitive and scared, and other times she was this unflinching, unyielding, fearless radical. It was confusing. I felt like I never really understood who she was at her core… and why she cared so much about a country that really didn’t give a rat’s ass about her.
I really reeeeally wanted to love this, but I almost put it down so many times, I really didn’t like it.
Love Kuang’s other stuff though (Yellowface and Babel). I won’t be reading the rest of this series but I still look forward to whatever she does next!
Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Violence, War, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, Classism, Gore, Addiction, Colonisation, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Child abuse, Confinement, Sexual violence, Slavery, Sexual assault, and Torture
a_novi's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Murder, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Slavery, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Death, Grief, Infertility, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Pregnancy, War, Gore, Sexual violence, Vomit, Medical content, Colonisation, and Genocide
opinkb's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Vomit, Grief, Gore, Xenophobia, Murder, War, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Child death, Sexual assault, Self harm, Mental illness, Violence, Death, Slavery, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Medical trauma, Confinement, Addiction, Rape, Torture, Kidnapping, and Emotional abuse