Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

370 reviews

alex_salamander's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Vomit, Rape, War, Grief, Death, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Violence, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Body horror, Gore, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Child death, and Racism

Moderate: Confinement, Body shaming, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

naturally's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.25

i've made piece with the fact that r.f.kuang's academic prowess is virtually inseparable from her creative writing. she tells stories like she's writing a text book...which isn't necessarily a bad thing! on one hand, there's little room left for subtext and there are times when we are told large blocks of information through character conversations. luckily i had no issue with skim reading bc, i was really invested in the world and the war she's created for the poppy war.

our heroine rin is the perfect shade of grey. the pacing at the beginning of the story was very slow, but i'm glad i stuck with rin's journey. her motivation for wanting to go to the sinegard are simple and strong. the scene where she

self-sterilises was...wow. i wasn't expecting it. but her reasoning was written very convincingly.

. 

the military academy portion was my favourite part of the book, and i think rin made some really touching friendships there. rin's relationships with other characters - specifically jiang and altan added to her complexities. there was so much to analyse, and this is only the first book! (imo rin attributes power with safety, but in actuality, on top is the most dangerous place to be as someone will always seek to rob her of such a high status.)

call me delulu...but i'm convinced that nezha is still alive. and that he will return in book 2. his rivallry with rin really snuck up on me, i wasn't expecting to enjoy their dynamic as much as i did. naturally, there is no place for a romance between them in the midst of so much war and violence. plus, rin's aversion to marriage, fertility etc means there will always be a strong denial from her end.

the revelation that rin was

a speerly felt very...anti-climactic. one character connected the dots, told her she was from speer...and rin just accepted it. from that point onward she was a speerly...

idk...i expected this bombshell to trigger a deep reflection into rin's identity and maybe an exploration of grief. but the overall writing style was a barrier to accessing rin's introspection.

very curious to see how this journey continues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Colonisation, Drug use, Misogyny, Murder, Addiction, Classism, Grief, Racism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Ableism, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

Moderate: Rape and Pregnancy

gaynidoking's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Genocide, War, Xenophobia, Blood, Body horror, Drug abuse, Addiction, Child death, Death, Grief, Self harm, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Racism

Moderate: Rape, Animal death, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Torture, Slavery, and Forced institutionalization

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

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

margauxjpg's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Gore, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Death, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Torture, Addiction, War, and Slavery

hearkenheretic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Self harm, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Blood, Grief, Child death, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Torture, Addiction, Gore, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Medical content and Infertility

hermoninny's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Medical trauma, War, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexual assault, Grief, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Gore

lilaudio's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Racism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

laraloops'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

Woof, this book was a rough one to get through. Not because it wasn't well written or the characters bad but because it was well written and the characters by extension were good. They were not good people per se but the characterization of them made sense for the story and you really can't blame the main character for their choices. 

I find Rin's character to be very well established from the get go in studying for the test. She is a flawed,  fascinating character to follow. 

As someone who went from Babel to this story I could definitely feel the same themes/writing style present in this book. I appreciated it, and found this one to be much easier to parse without the Oxford jargon. Its a simpler book but the themes are just as dark and challenging as Babel. Its certainly a more gruesome book. Heed the warnings people give for this book the atrocities of war are very explicit here. The author does not hold back. 

I'm torn if it is excessively descriptive. I believe its a matter of personal taste. Though it was hard to stomach it really helps to convey why the characters choose the things they do. I will not go into spoilers but I think the author is good at showing the realities of how life does not give black and white choices.  

If you are looking for an empowering, uplifting story this will not be for you. This is a story that is about sacrifice and how war is HELL. The fantastical powers are more akin to real life guns and bombs than the usual fantasy fare. 

I'm sure I'll continue the series but as the end of this one made me a bawling mess it will be after several cups of hot coco and a few cuter reads. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Medical trauma, Genocide, Gore, War, Drug abuse, and Physical abuse

might_be_may's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Bullying, Drug use, Vomit, Racism, Death, War, Child death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Classism, Sexual violence, Violence, Genocide, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and Addiction

Minor: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Body horror, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Gore