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teleporting_pickle's review against another edition
- 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
The shear destruction the country has been through is crazy.
Now on to the ending I knew it wasn’t over with those 50pages left and the footnote for the author saying I was going to cry.
Favorite part was Sister Petra’s meet and greet with the gods.
And lastly Nezhas pov at the end and also in the bonus section got me torn to pieces. Their relationship was a twisted one like fire and water. I was they could’ve found happiness but I don’t think it was in their fates.
Fav quote of many~
“Take what you want, it said. I’ll hate you for it. But I’ll love you forever. I can’t help but love you.
Ruin me, ruin us, and I’ll let you”
Bonus
“He knew exactly what choice she’d made and what she’d intended. And that made everything—hating her, loving her, surviving her—so much harder.
Fix this”
Graphic: Cannibalism, Murder, Colonisation, War, Blood, and Violence
greciamj1958's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Mental illness, Slavery, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Misogyny, and Racism
kesreads13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Death, Racism, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Gore, and Mental illness
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Abortion, Addiction, and Miscarriage
kaylaswhitmore'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
4.0
First, my praise for TBG… Where in the previous two books I felt like some of the relationships lacked the time required to endear me to them, this one absolutely flipped that upside down. In particular, I found that the party’s with Rin and Kitay were some of my favorite. Kuang really found such a tender and beautiful balance between love and friendship with those two, and the adamantly platonic aspect to their bond was a welcome one. In turn, Rin and Venka’s relationship was both inspiring and heartbreaking (if you’ve read it, you’ll understand), and I never would have predicted it becoming so strong. That, paired with Jiang’s final moments, really elevated my investment in Rin’s emotional character building (ironically enough).
Nezha and Rin on the other hand…. Fuck, man. What a twist in the gut. I’ll be honest, the optimist in me was really rooting for them even tho the pessimist in me saw the parallels coming a mile away. Even still, it was a gut wrenching way to close out the series and I honestly couldn’t see it ending any differently. That hurts to say, but I do think that the strength of Kuang’s writing is that she created a deliciously complex main character. When I loved her, I LOVED her, and while I never hated her, I couldn’t help but cringe at her lack of foresight at times.
That brings me to my critiques. As a whole, I think this is a super well-thought out trilogy, especially considering Kuang was only 19 when TPW was published and 23 when TBG was published! Insane! However, I do feel that my biggest issue with the series is that it presented such a deeply painful world with too little reprieve. It’s not that I think she needed to soften the pain, but that she might have added more little joys and moments that allowed us to understand why anyone would ever want to keep living in this world lol. Sometimes, the best way to set up a tragedy is to surround it with comedy or lightness, and I personally felt that her endless strings of tragedy throughout the series led me to a jadedness of emotion—such that the ending lacked some of its potential “punch.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I still cried haha, but I think it could have made me sob if I had actually believed that any of them could achieve a happy ending. But aside from that, the only other issues I had were perhaps differences of writing style—which is of no fault of Kuang. Just simple preference.
All in all, I think this book alone had a wonderful richness of tone and a stunningly heartbreaking narrative. I will most definitely reread it in the future and hope others take on this world as well. It certainly left me much food for thought, and I thoroughly enjoyed the mythical and tragic telling of Rin Fang’s life. Then again, Im always a sucker for female rage represented well ;)
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, War, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Colonisation, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Grief
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Confinement, and Cursing
mreads's review against another edition
- 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
R.F Kuang has absolutely become a favorite author. Her use of fantastical magic with the unfortunate, brutal truths of history have raised the bar for the subgenre over all. The heartbreak that I feel in the wake of finishing this series is hard to put into words. But all the same I'm grateful to feel it.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Racism, Addiction, War, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Violence, Sexual violence, Murder, Rape, and Death
Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Blood, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, and Cannibalism
Minor: Classism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Cursing
I have no idea where to begin when thinking about the Poppy War Trilogy. Of course it's easy enough to say "talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same" but that just doesn't seem to fully encompass it. R.F Kuang has absolutely become a favorite author. Her use of fantastical magic with the unfortunate, brutal truths of history have raised the bar for the subgenre over all. The heartbreak that I feel in the wake of finishing this series is hard to put into words. But all the same I'm grateful to feel it.janedoelish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Torture, Cannibalism, Colonisation, and Death
laughingkatana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Addiction, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Torture, Animal death, Confinement, Drug use, Grief, War, Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, and Religious bigotry
miszgoblin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racism, Murder, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, and Grief
peggy_racham's review against another edition
4.75
the end and the beginning. The world is a painting and I hold the brush. I
am a god."
Did I stare at a blank space for 10 min after finishing the book? Yes I did. An amazing ending to a briliant debut trilogy.
Graphic: Abortion, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Gore, Toxic friendship, War, Body horror, Death, Child death, Addiction, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Blood, Cannibalism, Genocide, and Medical trauma
st4rchaser's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Racism, War, Genocide, Colonisation, Drug use, Violence, Suicide, Gore, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Cannibalism and Rape
Minor: Forced institutionalization