Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

28 reviews

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

namna's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I read this last year and am writing the review now and it is still fresh in my mind. This book is intense and does not hold back on the horrors humans are unfortunately capable of but the characters are compelling, flawed, and complex. With the plot, there is no right or wrong character and it really works. This book will make you both needing to look away while also glued to the pages

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Colonisation, War, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Child death, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, and Addiction

daisy2050's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Death, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, Genocide, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Murder, Torture, Slavery, Violence, and War

viviandoeshaveaclue's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.75

Absolutely amazing and saddening at the same time. Definitely will be thinking about Rin, Alton, Kitay, Nezha, and Venka for the next few days.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, War, Sexual assault, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Genocide, Torture, Rape, Drug abuse, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Body horror, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Medical content, and Death

Minor: Vomit

lilly24's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book and the entire saga, is a piece of art. We can see the work behind. The author did a lot of work and depicted everything with so much precision that it became sometimes difficult to read (!chapter 21!). It's heartbreaking, it's horrendous and I love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Alcoholism, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Abortion, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Deportation, Drug use, Murder, Self harm, Slavery, Stalking, Terminal illness, Torture, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Sexism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Excrement, Xenophobia, Classism, Cursing, Gaslighting, Racism, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Rape, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit

hermoninny's review

adventurous challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Medical trauma, War, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexual assault, Grief, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Gore

rach_reads_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Death, Child death, Addiction, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Grief, and Drug abuse

noosh_pdf's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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

When they say this book is dark, they mean it. Do not be fooled by the beginning chapters of this book that feign hopeful stories of aspiring soldiers. The darkness of this book has subjected itself to one specific chapter, chapter 21. There are gruesome, cruel, horrifying depictions of war crimes. Nothing will prepare you for it. Read trigger warnings. Please.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Mental illness, Abortion, War, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Grief, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death, Addiction, Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Vomit, Violence, Self harm, Genocide, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Forced institutionalization, and Cursing

aislinn_h's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Rape, Animal death, Death, Genocide, War, Colonisation, Gore, Torture, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Addiction, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicidal thoughts

andilikepeaches's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

There were so many twists and turns throughout this book! I recognized scenes from WWII China immediately, and many of those moments were very difficult to read. I also got the sense as the story progressed that Rin was becoming something of an anti-hero, which turned out to be true. I found her choices at the end of the novel to be deeply disturbing and I really hope her growth takes an upward turn in book 2!

As an aside, I also hope Nezha is not dead (words I never thought I would say aloud).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Addiction, Drug use, Torture, Xenophobia, Death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Bullying, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Genocide, Murder, Racism, and War