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ccpetrikas's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Chronic illness, Blood, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Violence, War, Alcohol, Child death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Cursing, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Sexism
violaceae's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Death, Gore, Blood, Drug use, Murder, Child death, Genocide, Torture, Drug abuse, Cannibalism, Racism, Grief, Animal death, Body horror, Addiction, Rape, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Cursing, Self harm, Confinement, Animal cruelty, War, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Outing, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape
xalrynne's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The Burning God is just as dark and violent as the previous two books. War is raging in Nikan, and the Nikara are up against not only the Dragon Republic but also the foreign Hesperians with their new technologies.
This book focuses on Rin and Nezha, allies-turned-enemies on opposite sides of a war that neither of them wants to fight.
This book takes a look at what it means for invading forces to completely take over your city and your country and put you under their rule without your consent. Rin is both awed and terrified by the Hesperians’ technology and doesn’t know whether to embrace it or shun it, but ultimately the Hesperians are the colonizers, and they obviously don’t take into consideration what’s best for the people they’re colonizing because they think their own way of life is the best and the Nikara are subhuman at best. It’s interesting to see colonization from the other point of view; so often in school what we learn was written by the victor—by the people and forces who took over—but this book shows us what it’s like for all the other people on the inside.
We see new types of shamans in this book, which I loved. I won’t explain anymore so as not to spoil, but I’m super glad they were introduced so we could see wider implications of this magic than just Rin’s abilities.
This isn’t my favorite fantasy series out there but I can’t deny how well it’s written and the impact of its harrowing story. None of the characters in this series are particularly likable and there isn’t a whole lot of hope, but I still enjoyed the journey nonetheless. The Poppy War trilogy is way darker than I normally prefer my books to be, and I want to emphasize the huge amount of trigger and content warnings in this series. It is full of horrific and descriptive scenes of war and all the brutalities that happen because of that. Basically if you can imagine a trigger warning, this series probably has it, so make sure you’re in a good headspace before you start reading it.
My Book Blog: Storeys of Stories
Graphic: Rape, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
andromeda_1998's review against another edition
- 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
The trilogy as a whole is really strong and it’s a big rollercoaster ride that I would recommend to everyone. In some ways these books still have some points of criticism that in my opinion could have made the books better. But the critics are really minor and not even really worth mentioning. It’s just that I would have enjoyed some more character interaction between the fighting. For me it would have explained more the love the characters feel for eachother.
My favorite quote from the trilogy:
“They believe in a singular and all-powerful deity, which means they cannot accept the truth of other gods. And when nations start to believe that other beliefs lead to damnation, violence becomes inevitable.”
I would recommend these books to every fantasy and history fan but make sure to read the trigger warnings. These books describe a lot of gruesome things in a lot of detail so make sure these books are the right fit for you.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence
tinytrashqueen's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cannibalism, Cursing, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Vomit, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Excrement