Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

94 reviews

ashlyn922's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

lilly24's review against another edition

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

bookishbirdkid9's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

jaz_apples's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.25

I found the writing to be a bit juvenile and the pacing to vary wildly. It has an excellent premise and I think could have been something great. The execution lacked however. This was very nearly a dnf for me due to the lack of cohesion and flow within the plot. The character interactions were engaging however the character development and the development of the relationships between them were rushed, forced, underdeveloped, on several occasions did complete 180s, and overall were hard to follow. The lack of effective character development made it very hard to relate to the characters and even like them in some cases. 

This book was incredibly graphic. It goes into heavy detail of body horror, death, murder and SA. The author did a good job of painting the picture of the scene but could have done so in a more tactful and effective way. 

“The bigger the issue, the smaller you write. Remember that. You don’t write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid’s burnt socks lying on the road. You pick the smallest manageable part of the big thing, and you work off the resonance.” -Richard Price

The author could have elicited an even greater emotional response from the reader, without being quite as triggering by using metaphors and focusing on a smaller, seemingly inconsequential aspect.  

Another thing to be wary of is the heavy drug use and abuse within this book. 


I believe that the most triggering chapter is chapter 21 and I’ll have a general description of the events for those who wish to skip it under a spoiler. This chapter covers exceptionally graphic and detailed descriptions of: murder, genocide, torture, body horror/mutilation, the postmortem state of bodies, SA, sexual violence, miscarriage/forced abortion/violence towards a pregnant women, and drug abuse. With that said, here is the general description of the chapter: 

The Cike travel to Golyn Niis and find that the Federation soldiers had already reached the city. They had brutally killed almost every citizen and Nikan soldier within. There were very few survivors, of which two were students Rin went to school with: Kitay, Rin’s friend who suffered no lasting injuries, and Venka, a girl Rin shared a dorm with. Venka had suffered from repeated SA and explains to Rin the details of what happened to her and to other women and Rin swears to get revenge for them. Afterwards Rin goes to find Altan and finds him practically incapacitated from smoking mass amounts of opium.

See the content warnings for the rest of possible triggers

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

mktraxel's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

BRUTAL

kaequinn's review against another edition

I am honestly shocked at how readily this book as recommended to the masses across my socials. Not because it isn't well written or telling an interesting story, but because it should be well understood what one is getting into before they open the cover.

This book has graphic depictions of violence, assault, drug addiction, and just about every other trigger warning you can think of. Again, not that having that kind of content is bad, it just should be very clearly discussed when talking about the book. Otherwise a reader goes into it, like I did, thinking it was going to be a (to quote a literal reviewer I heard) "Harry Potter meets Avatar: The Last Airbender." That is not this book. I cannot reiterated enough, that is NOT this book. 

If you want a book that puts the horrors of the Second Sino-Japanese War into a fictionalized world, this is definitely a book for you. If not, please don't read it. If you're unsure, look up the atrocities that were done against Chinese civilians and then proceed with caution.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

bookswithgracie's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Rape, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Pregnancy

taque's review against another edition

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Excrement and Vomit

cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This is my second R. F. Kuang book, and she never seems to disappoint.

There's so much to say here that I'm sure other readers in these reviews can express much better than me.
Currently in history class, we're learning about the history of Emperial Japan (where much of it is also taught from the perspective of the Chinese), and the parallels are prominent. Sometimes it becomes hard to distinguish between what is real and what is fiction, because just like the Mugenese, the Japanese soldiers were terrible—terrible—terrible.

There's so much of this book to praise, and I did love Rin for a while. However, as she continued to go against her master's advice, I continued to dislike her. I see where her need is coming from, but it was very frustrating and frankly quite uninspiring to read about these very predictable consequences to her horribly naïve decisions.
This, however, is the ONLY complaint I had about the book, and I still very much enjoyed the book. I am looking forward to the coming books!

I deeply recommend this book, but be aware of the warnings. Many of the warnings are descriptions and mentions made from character's rather than the direct actions, but they can still be disturbing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Excrement, and Vomit

noosh_pdf's review against another edition

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