Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

93 reviews

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.

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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

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

kirstyn444's review

dark reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Bullying, Cursing, Misogyny, Classism, Genocide, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Racism, and Animal death

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

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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

fracturedpage's review

challenging dark emotional 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? No

4.0

Part one is slow but once you make it to part two the pace picks up , and it gets crazy. Not sure i like any of the main characters but i could still follow the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Rape, Sexual violence, Genocide, Body horror, War, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Violence

averyadventurous's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• 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

There’s been talk in a lot of bookish spaces about fantasy as a genre having an empire problem. R.F. Kuang completely subverts that trope. Empires are bad. Power of any type is bad. She pulls no stops with this book. It’s brutal. It’s disgusting. It’ll make you question your life choices and reconsider everything you think you know about world history. I need the rest of the series immediately.

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Content Warnings

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

booking_along's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.5

i don’t know yet how to feel about this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Death, Blood, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Murder, Medical content, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, War, Sexism, Rape, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Drug use, Bullying, and Addiction

vanessa_books26's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, War, Colonisation, Classism, Toxic friendship, Racism, Infertility, Grief, Gore, Pregnancy, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Drug use, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Violence, Child death, Cursing, Death, Bullying, Racial slurs, Vomit, Sexual violence, and Rape

gummy_snail's review

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

Messy structure, messy characters. Fast read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Genocide, and Rape

thegr1mreader's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Self harm, Racism, Rape, War, Violence, Torture, Death, Child death, Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Medical content, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Drug abuse, Cursing, Body horror, Blood, Animal death, and Addiction

Moderate: Xenophobia, Gore, Genocide, Animal death, Medical content, Rape, Sexual violence, Addiction, War, Violence, Torture, Drug use, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Grief, Death, Colonisation, Child death, Bullying, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Cursing, Classism, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Death, Medical content, Vomit, Violence, Rape, Xenophobia, War, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual violence, Self harm, Racism, Physical abuse, Cursing, Colonisation, Blood, Murder, Gore, Miscarriage, Grief, Drug abuse, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Classism, Child death, and Addiction