Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

138 reviews

jukebox1168's review

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

The book was somewhat dry. Run sees some terrible things and I never felt like she connected emotionally with what was happening. At times it felt like a list of things instead of the terrible things she witnessed. As this was a debut novel and Babel was so good, I will be reading the rest of the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Gore, Addiction, Body horror, Classism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Suicide, Drug abuse, Genocide, Murder, Sexual violence, Self harm, Blood, and War

aingealwroth's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• 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

3.25

Unless certain issues are resolved for the main main character, especially in the next book this is a three star for me due to problematic behaviour that is encouraged for the main character

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, War, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Drug use, Colonisation, Child death, Addiction, Excrement, Genocide, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Toxic friendship, Torture, Rape, Confinement, Bullying, and Death

shottel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I thought the hype over The Poppy War was probably unwarranted. I was wrong. If you can handle the visceral horror of the second half - without spoiling anything, it gets really dark - this is a must-read. Set in a fictional world heavily based on the interwar period, it takes heavily from the Second Sino-Japanese War, a topic western audiences are less likely to be familiar with. This gives it an unfamiliar, original touch even as it enjoyably uses well-established character types and tropes. It’s a great time - again, if you can get past situations that outstrip the darker parts of Game of Thrones.

The book rests on two interconnected themes. The first: The horrors that occur when humans think they are bigger and more important than they actually are. The second: The line between justice and revenge, and the consequences of pursuing the latter. These themes are explored through bigotry in the form of racism, classism, and sexism (primarily in the first half) and total war (primarily in the second half). It strikes a masterful balance between being too subtle and too outright as the story plays out and revolves around these themes. Neither preachy nor cryptic.

I recommend this book to any fiction reader who can handle the all-too-real depictions of human-inflicted atrocities. [If you’re on the edge, I attempted to be as thorough as I could with my content warnings attached to this review. This is one of the few times I’d actually recommend checking content warnings prior to reading a book.]

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Genocide, Child death, Murder, Physical abuse, Addiction, Torture, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Classism, Body horror, Confinement, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Grief, Infertility, Excrement, and Pedophilia

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, and Vomit

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

lindseyhall44's review

dark sad medium-paced

• 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

4.75

I genuinely think that this might be one of the greatest fantasy novels I have ever read. R.F. Kuang is an incredible talent, and both her academic background and love of reading show in every page. It is a difficult read, but a rewarding one, and I am excited (and very afraid) to get my hands on the next installment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, and War

illicitrature's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Trafficking, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Racism, Death, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Confinement, Drug use, Cursing, Drug abuse, Rape, Animal death, Excrement, War, Violence, Vomit, Addiction, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Grief, Body horror, and Child abuse

chasinggrace's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Drug use, War, Drug abuse, Vomit, Addiction, Sexual violence, Slavery, Genocide, Physical abuse, Gore, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Violence, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Body horror, Blood, Bullying, Death, Suicide, Torture, Excrement, Infertility, and Murder

taemd58's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Genocide, Murder, Rape, Infertility, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Body horror, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Violence, Vomit, War, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, and Hate crime

grandiose_r's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

This book really gripped me and shook me to my core. I recognized so many things from what my father told me from his time growing in immediate post WW2 China (born on the exact day of Japan's official surrender), and his growing up hearing first hand accounts of the Nanjing Massacre as well as further atrocities commit by remaining soldiers even after the official surrender.

On a different note, I loved the novel's approach to drugs and gods and hope it's explored further in the following parts of the series.

R.F. Kuang did an amazing job with this debut novel and I will definitely be returning to this series, but I'm gonna have to take a break from this kind of war literature that hits a bit too close to home for a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Torture, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Drug use, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Medical content, Vomit, Violence, Addiction, Child death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, War, Death, Genocide, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Infertility, Excrement, and Confinement

cowboylatte's review

Incredible writing and atmosphere. Will absolutely look into RF Kuang’s other works.. but the gratuitous (and real) violence of chapter 21 was too much for my heart. Incredible, but too much for me right now. Might try again at a later date.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Sexual assault, and War