Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

1340 reviews

bubblebot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

would give five stars, but this book is going to give me nightmares. i dock points for bringing me trauma.
would i recommend? if you want to get your soul wrecked answer is yes. if you want to smile again, my answer is no.(the amount of tw:s I listed feel inadequate. THAT should tell you something).

anyway, going to go read more about rin becoming a crazy vengeful god or imagine she is one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Infertility, and Alcohol

justagremlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

 

This is one of those books I had heard of forever but I had never picked up. And now I regret not picking it up sooner. 

I had heard this was a grim fantasy, but I didn’t expect it to be this dark. The depiction of war is one of the more realistic ones for a fantasy novel. I can handle a lot but some of the scenes genuinely made my heart plummet

Chapter 21. Chapter 21. Chapter 21.

 

All of the characters we spend time with are complex and fleshed out. If you are tired of fantasy novels promising you “morally grey” characters and then giving you really weak morally grey characters, please pick up this book. Everyone in this novel isn’t a goody two shoes. There are layers to every character, especially the main character. I’m hoping in the next book we can see her interacting with her classmates more.

I’m also hoping for some found family action since she’s the commander of the Cike

 

The magic system is also really cool. It’s not the most original, but that doesn’t matter here. I hope we can get more lore about shamans and the gods and goddesses in the next book. 

The ONLY issue that popped at me consistently was that the time skips weren’t very clear. A year in book time will pass in like a chapter with little fanfare. But this is a minuscule issue to be honest, because it doesn’t mess up the flow too much
 

Recommend for: People who want morally grey, female rage, shamans and a tense political war. 

5/5 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Racism, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug Use:

In order to access the gods, they have to get high, the drug use itself isn't graphic but its used so much I felt it necessary to put in this category, one of the characters was fed opium to be a soldier and he is addicted

Animal Cruelty, Animal Death

soldiers on the other side light stray animals on fire

Confinement, Medical Trauma, Medical content

one character was tormented as a kid and experimented on, later in the novel him and the main character are trapped in the same place

Colonization/Racism

The race of the main character and her friend was wiped out and used as a pawn in a war. The rage they feel about this is a driving force behind both characters

Blood, Child Death, Fire/Fire Injury, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury Detail/Physical Abuse/Torture/War:

This book takes place during a war and it does not shy away from that fact. Graphic depictions of corpses, bombings, beheadings, and general violence

Grief/Panic Attacks:

Characters react to horrors of war, one character has heavy PTSD from colonization and experimentation

Misogyny, Rape, Sexual Assault, Sexual Violence, Pregnancy

Chapter 21 a character recounts the rape she and other women felt at the hands of soldiers. And then recounts the murder of a pregnant woman and her 8-month-old fetus.

clovetra's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

and just when i thought yellowface was r.f. kuang’s magnum opus. i was pleasantly WRONG

ok so easily, EASILY, the best part of this book is rin. sorry i love female protags who take no shit, are in the military/fighters, cause chaos and do shit no other dreams of. she’s such a likeable protag in the sense of personality, and god i just wanted to root for my girl. i love when women commit crimes and rin is no exception!!!!!!

altan can get it fr, as well as the rest of the

cike

, i really enjoyed all the side characters!!!! special shout out to nezha

i liked the mini redemption arc he got!!! hopefully homeboy and the rest of the sinegard sluts are kicking

.

i’ll be real i did not like the whole…. Spiritual aspect of this book. it certainly grew on me by the end, but throughout most of this book i was read to give this 4-stars simply because i didn’t like the Lore portion of the story (lore in the sense of this book not lore as a component of a story). like i said by the last 100 pages i’d finally wrapped by head around the concepts so i was enjoying them, but i can’t tell if it’s because im dumb or it wasn’t properly explained until the last third of this book. 

anyways i cant explained how addicted to this i was. like i was an hour late to uni because i didn’t want to stop reading this. i was so immersed not only did i forget when my class was, but when i did realise i was gonna be late….. i just didn’t care. because i wanted to read this.

the worldbuilding at times was weak, but when it was good…. god it was good!!!!! some of the best worldbuilding i’ve read in a fantasy novel (minus the lore concepts that were beyond me). i was so down for whatever was happening, and i was along for the ride. i felt every emotion. every shift in story. god just this book is great RF KUANG YOUVE DONE IT AGAIN

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Racism, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Child death, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Vomit

vin_eeta_3's review against another edition

challenging dark lighthearted 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kmart_ceo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

How far would you go for revenge?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide, Kidnapping, Abortion, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Infertility and Pregnancy

I would look up the warnings yourself. There are a lot, and I likely missed a couple.

theologize's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and War

shelbyrodger's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jaxistired's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism

kp_reads_in_the_dark's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

On the whole, a good read. I felt pulled along with the protagonist, and appreciated that the author doesn't shy away from difficult or complex topics. Definitely some particularly sad and shocking moments, so be mindful of the content warnings from this and other reviews. Interesting intersection between historical fiction (ish) and fantasy action genres.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

I felt the end coming and still somehow felt surprised and dismayed when Rin essentially nuked the entirety of Mugen. I'm really interested to see what comes next, but also anxious about how dark things had become by the end. I almost don't want to consider how much worse it can get in the rest of the trilogy, especially considering how all? descriptions of violence (minus the magically inflicted kind) are based on actual war crimes. It's definitely sobering.

persephone__'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail