Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

666 reviews

f_m_12's review

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, War, Xenophobia, Genocide, and Trafficking

bibi_lotta101's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Death, Blood, Gore, Genocide, Drug use, Violence, and Hate crime

Moderate: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Animal death, Torture, Rape, Murder, and Drug abuse

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

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

lexy000000000000's review

4.0

SOSOSOS GOOD
i liked the fact that it was set in the academy at first 😊😊jiang was a funny old man

rin as a character is written good imo!! ilove her character n her quest for power was UGHHHG

idrk how to feel about the pacing but im really excited n expecting a lot for the next book !!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Colonisation

onaquest's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Blood, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Murder, and Genocide

megshughes_13's review

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Death, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Colonisation, and Genocide

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

ghoulettev's review

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Murder, Misogyny, and Rape

Minor: Genocide and Child abuse

cryptofauna's review

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

woah. such a strong story. 
the characterization and the setting are amazing especially but just everything about this is so so good. so well written with an amazing plot that had such a good mix of expected and unexpected. kept me absolutely hooked the whole time
i didn’t know Kuang’s whole thing was the opium wars (obviously this one but babel too) but i love how in depth the thoughts and research are on this time in history. by focusing on it they get such nuanced takes which then can be applied to the fantasy elements . the historical blends so well with the magic system too
will def be reading the sequels

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, War, Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual assault