Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

261 reviews

weareinheritors's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

1.0

Hoo boy, this book.

Hated the first half. I don't like academy/school fiction. This book had most of the tropes (plain girl good at everything, abusive curriculum, shitty teachers, two gorgeous boys (a rich Malfoy and a dark stranger)—thank goodness there was no romance, goofy best guy friend, etc). It was a slog and I nearly DNFd it, if not for the supposed promise of the better second half...

Which. My goodness, the whiplash. 

The second half is not for the faint of heart, from the (TW)

Rape of Nanjing sequence to the descriptions of actual rape to full-on genocide

. 

It's an okay book, but Rin is so damn unlikeable. The surrounding cast are decent at their best, but Rin is so detestable that she drags them all down with her. The ending feels like she's gonna

start a revolution

or something, but I don't see anybody rallying behind her for any reason other than maybe fear.

I'll get to the sequel eventually. Maybe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Addiction, Genocide, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Gore, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

squiggly_cj's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book deals very explicitly with a lot of heavy themes around genocide, (sometimes forced) drug addiction, child abuse, colonisation, and war, and it bordered on getting too shockingly violent for me (particularly with the descriptions of physical violence and mutilations). Although I felt the main character's journey was predictable, and that her relationships weren't as nuanced as they could have been, I found the plot and worldbuilding compelling. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the trilogy given the graphic violence, but I overall enjoyed the experience of reading this! I read this after Babel, and am enjoying seeing Kuang explore some similar themes in new contexts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Murder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical trauma

taemd58's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Murder, Rape, Infertility, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Body horror, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Violence, Vomit, War, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, and Hate crime

lola218_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Torture, Drug use, Xenophobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Murder, Slavery, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Violence, Sexual assault, Animal death, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, War, Genocide, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Classism, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Body shaming, Confinement, Fatphobia, and Infertility

chloeanderson's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

Such an impactful book, I was hooked and it made me think about and explore history I was previously unaware of.

Only reason didn’t get 5 was pacing was a bit off at time, sometimes switches from scenes felt sudden and the scene with Venka I felt was too graphic for what I felt the author was trying to achieve. I am not a writer but I question if there was another way that we could hear Venka and the other women’s stories, I want to hear them they are important but as a survivor it was very triggering and something very quick and unexpected. I question if there was another way to highlight these women’s stories is all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, War, Xenophobia, and Genocide

Moderate: Murder, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Colonisation, Self harm, and Drug use

queenofthenightdreams's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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

3.0

The Poppy War was averagely average.

I struggle to understand how so many people found it innovative and “not like other BookTok books” because it had the same formula, wrapped up in adult or new adult packaging.

Rin didn’t feel like a morally grey character throughout the book. She was good for 95% of the book and then evil

when she burned Mugen to ashes

. It also felt like Kuang was trying to hit people on the head with her personal opinions, which is fine. Every author does that to varying degrees, but there was zero subtlety and nuance. Every Mugenese (with the exception of that one guy who lasted a page and a half) was evil and every Westerner (they never make an appearance and are called something else) is bad. There aren’t even nuances between the two Speerlies. They’re both violent and become addicted to Poppy. 

I also don’t see what people like between Nezha and Rin, they have few interactions in the book, with half of them being less than favourable.

It’s never mentioned in the book that Nezha has powers. Rin’s friend tells her so casually and then she forgets it within the span of 5 pages

Plus, the monsters that Rin’s master unleashed are forgotten about until around 200 pages later which is disappointing and even then, we don’t see another.

I didn’t hate this book, but I went into it with such high expectations, that it fell flat for me when it didn’t reach them

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Grief, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Torture, Gore, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Drug use

rilakkumas's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, Slavery, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Blood, Body horror, Medical trauma, Rape, Addiction, Torture, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Gore, Animal death, Hate crime, Violence, and War

xx_salem's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

I liked the book and loved the main character and how far she was willing to take it. However I slowly began to dislike how she took over the motives of others and lost her own motives, I couldn’t understand her stake in anything or why she cared that much. The ending left a little to be desired, like it was brushed over, but I hope to see more consequences in the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, Genocide, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Addiction, Animal death, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, Body shaming, Colonisation, Self harm, Mental illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Torture, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Animal cruelty, Grief, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Infertility, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Vomit, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and War

queenoffred's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

what a book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Rape, Addiction, Grief, Hate crime, Child death, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Suicide, War, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Drug use, Violence, and Torture

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