Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

1522 reviews

amalia_tealeaf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Gore, Child death, War, and Rape

Moderate: Drug use and Addiction

The massacre of Golyn Niis is based on the Nanjing Massacre which was extremely horrific. This is one of the most graphic descriptions of a massacre I’ve ever read, however, knowing that it was based in truth actually helped me a bit because it is a part of history and the people who suffered that fate deserve to be remembered. It is very difficult to read though so looking up a summary of the chapters involved and skipping it would be ok in my mind.

rebornehero's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, War, Drug abuse, Gore, Torture, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Genocide, Rape, Death, and Child death

bobthebard's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Blood, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Rape, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Violence, Self harm, Torture, and War

mirrorofneptune's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

4.25

This book is fantastically written and very clearly inspired by Chinese history and culture. There are parts of it that have stuck with me in a good way and parts of it that have stuck with me in a horrifying (if still well-executed) way. I can’t say it’s an enjoyable read based on the subject matter (trigger warnings for a lot, including

a fairly long and graphic scene based on the Rape of Nanking

) but it is a compelling story with a strong cast of characters, and I do want to see where they end up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Rape, Torture, and Child death

noms01's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Death, Drug use, Child abuse, Blood, Addiction, Classism, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, and War

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Abandonment, Medical content, Slavery, and Sexism

allishortell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.75

I respect what the author was trying to accomplish, however, it was too clunky for me. This book is extremely graphic so if you’re sensitive to triggering content, I advise you to check the tags. For clarification, the graphic nature of this book is not what pushed me to give a low rating, it had more to do with characterization, world building, and plot development. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Colonisation, Gore, Drug use, Drug abuse, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Torture

Minor: Vomit and Blood

thespellboundlibraries's review

adventurous dark emotional 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: Violence, Genocide, Torture, Rape, and War

booknerdcoco's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was so far out of my comfort zone. I don't usually go for grimdark fantasy. That being said, the Story was very well written. I did initially struggle with the world building, but it didn't take long to get a tester understanding of Kuang's world and the usual system in play.

I admit I really struggled with the content as the story does differ some dark themes in great detail and three fact that it is loosely based on historic events really impacts on the readers emotions as the journey through the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, Death, Animal death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Genocide, Violence, War, Gore, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Torture

booksmoviesandstories's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Vomit, War, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Drug use, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Grief, and Racism

sleepycaboose's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Torture, War, and Violence