Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

132 reviews

handful_of_frogs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Abortion, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Book is incredibly graphic in every which way so most likely not for those under 16 or anyone who has a multitude of triggers - but is really well written and I look forward to the rest of the series.

loxleyhall's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Blood

wrenxavier's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

hanarama's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

Blown away by how compelling this book is. I'm so excited to read the rest of the series. 

Kuang is masterful at capturing the horrors and atrocities of war. She really highlights how hard it is to take moral actions in a war and really no one can claim a true moral high ground in this book. I found that this book is really great at laying out how the characters' choices lead them to where they end up. The characters are able to make really horrifying decisions and though the book makes it clear how terrible their actions are it's easy to see why they make these terrible choices. 

I really loved the first part of the book where Rin is a peasant protégé at a prestigious academy. It really gets you invested in Rin's growth, while also foreshadowing the type of soldier she will become. The academy chapters also help to contrast with how horrific the later chapters are. 

I wouldn't recommend this book to most people, despite the excellent quality of Kuang's writing. Definitely keep the content warnings in mind before going in.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Confinement, Infertility, and Forced institutionalization

This book is very much about the brutality of war and everything that that implies.

maddiebusick's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Murder

totallyshelfaware's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective 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

Brutal. Brilliant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Infertility, Self harm, and Torture

Minor: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Excrement, and Vomit

rbookish's review against another edition

dark slow-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

2.0

i see why people like it, but i’m not into high fantasy and war 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, and Murder

whatswrenreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow. It's been a while since a fantasy book had really grabbed my interest, but this held me till almost the very end. I appreciate how the author has put Rin in a very difficult place: you kind of hate her regardless of the choice she makes. If she uses her powers, she's power hungry and evil, if she doesn't, she's selfish and a coward. If she shows emotion she's too human, if she doesn't, she's a monster. I'm really interested to see how her character develops in the next book, and am eager to see the consequences of her actions. While it was hard to read at times (tw for gore, rape, gratuitous violence), it's the reality of the world. They are at war, and the author does NOT shy away from the atrocities of it. While not crazy character driven, the world building is IMMENSE AND BEAUTIFUL. Kuang studied and specialized in Asian history, in particular the rape of Nanjing and her expertise shows. It's a difficult topic to write about and I'm grateful that an author with such expertise is doing it justice. All in all, a horrific and awesome book, set in a world that I really got into. Excited for the next installment!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and Blood

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Its very much grimdark, the characters are in a literal war. The violence is not gratuitous, or there for shock value, it is there to explain and show the atrocities of war. Its also rooted in historical context, I believe the author drew from the r*pe of Nanjing if I remember interviews correctly.

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.0

Right before I started reading this, I read an interview with RF Kuang where she talked about her goal was to explore how a person went from being a peasant to a war criminal, and I was really excited to pick it up. However, I wound up disappointed.

All of the characters are interesting psychologically (if not particularly likable, this is a war story), the details of actually fighting a war are well-done, the occasional bursts of humour to break the tension are well deployed, and the tie-ins to real-world Chinese history mostly work well. 

However, I think the way the supernatural element is incorporated works against the themes. If a character is being possessed or corrupted by a supernatural presence are we really exploring their choices? Making the magic Rin can use a trait of her naturally angry race was certainly a decision as well. Making a race of people who are oppressed because they are naturally dangerous is one of my least favourite tropes and it looks like this series is going all-in on that.

Also, the reactivity of Rin’s character really annoyed me. At first, she seems like she has her own opinions about things, but she changes her mind literally any time anyone else has an opinion in her presence. Like Jiang tells her something and she's like, oh I was wrong, but then Altan contradicts him and she's like, oh Jiang was wrong, and then someone else comes along with an opinion and she's like, oh Altan was wrong... And it happens every time. The impact of the ending kind of falls apart because while Rin is told that her decisions led her to that place, it never really felt like she was thinking for herself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Bullying

radreadswithrachel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, and Medical trauma