Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

346 reviews

lydia203's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Vomit, War, Violence, Cursing, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Classism, Body shaming, Torture, Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Toxic friendship, Slavery, Animal death, Terminal illness, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Blood, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Confinement, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

alyxbeau's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I'm having a hard time goving this a rating.

The sheer brutality of the second half of this book is nuts. Im not sure if I'm really up for a series that is bound to have increasing levels of this kind of horrific war atrocities. 
There were parts of this book that I loved, and characters that I loved. I thought it was well written and so well done, but whether I want to actually spend my time reading about what I think is coming is a whole seperate question.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, Bullying, Body horror, Sexual violence, War, Toxic friendship, Torture, Xenophobia, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Racism, Emotional abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Child death, Addiction, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Sexual assault, Death, Rape, Blood, Drug use, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Infertility, Gore, Forced institutionalization, and Confinement

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.

---

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

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.]

---

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

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

---

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

harrimyers's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexual assault, Addiction, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, War, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Bullying, Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Abandonment, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Infertility, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

laraamaee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.25

Wow. Ok. This was the most violent book I have ever read. I’m on a mission to read all of Kuang’s work now, and I wasn’t prepared because I thought this was fantasy. Oh no…the atrocities in this book have really happened before (Second Sino-Japanese War, Rape of Nanjing). I got nightmares when I read this before bed…

But the story is intensely gripping and Kuang’s writing is incredible as ever, even if the book’s pace speeds up Very quickly after Rin’s training. Each time I thought, No, the situation can’t get any worse… it did … and there’s 2 more books?!? How am I going to cope…

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Sexual violence, Body horror, Torture, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Genocide, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug abuse, Death, Sexual harassment, Gore, Animal cruelty, War, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Violence, Rape, Child abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Suicide, and Pandemic/Epidemic

megs3215's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual violence, Murder, Violence, War, Torture, and Gore

sophie221010's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Mental illness, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Classism, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Abandonment, Colonisation, Cursing, and Bullying

The first book is ok, but near the end and in the following books especially, it quickly descends into madness. I would have to use almost every content warning available.

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. 

---

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