Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Poppy War - Perang Opium by R.F. Kuang

286 reviews

karol99's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious relaxing 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism

nat_kiverse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

five_rats_in_a_trenchcoat's review against another edition

dark slow-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

1.25

As much as I wanted to like this book it just wasn't for me.

The pacing was somehow both achingly slow and way to fast, the many timeskips didn't leave time for relationships or characters to develop properly.

Reading the book felt more like the author giving me a summary. It was also like being told that Character A has this and that trait and has feelings foe this and that character instead of showing me, if that makes sense?

In addition to that the plot was very predictable and the writing style felt like the novel was supposed to be a YA fantasy instead of an adult fantasy book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Excrement, and Vomit

nimeneth's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I thing I read a different book than all of the 4 and 5 star reviews, because I didn't like it after the war started in Sinegard, which was relatively early in the book. I kept hoping I would like it more as it continued, but really just... No.

I understand that this is a war book, which means lots of death, destruction, and mayhem, but most of the depictions of the horrors of this were over the top and felt like gratuitous shock factors to me. Came out of this thinking Rin is a dumbass and very much inhuman herself, after her last major act. It's ironic considering that's how Mugen is viewed throughout. The writing also wasn't great, with big info dumps throughout and somewhat lazy characterization, and don't even get me started on the Mugen battle "plans". Kuang's interests for them definitely hinged on turning them into the evil Other, which she did achieve, but it felt so disjointed and poorly executed that it was annoying.

Not continuing the series and don't recommend it, even giving Kuang some leeway on this being her debut.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

irodori_megu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Infertility, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Medical content

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed the story, although at times it was too graphic for me.  I would definitetly recommend folks check trigger warnings.  Well worth the read, I will be reading the next one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

euclids_5th's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-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

Holy. Fucking. Shit. I have not read a book that has made my heart pound like this in a very, very long time. I recommend going in blind, and then re-reading after you do some historical research. And for the love of God, READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS. It’s graphic. It’s sickening. And it is incredible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

thelostartofsecretkeeping's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mads_reads_books's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Sexual assault, Violence, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Colonisation

greatlibraryofalexandra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Delighted that I finally read this book. It's absorbing and worth the read and I loved immersing myself in it - R. F. Kuang pays homage to the classic tenants of fantasy while infusing it with Eastern influence and fresh real-world inspiration that diversifies and and accentuates a genre that is often stale with Medieval European re-tellings. 

I'm invested in where this is going, I'm very interested in continuing to unravel the lore, and hopefully more of Rin's origins - I genuinely expect the following two books to be infinitely better, and I found this one really good to begin with. I love that it is YA, but it is bloody, brutal, unafraid to use vulgar language, and not entirely sexless - the only YA I ever read that came close to this sort of trust in its young readers to understand/cope with the realities of a dystopian landscape was The Hunger Games, and Kuang trusts her readers even more. YA should be more understanding that teenagers swear and curse and experience sexuality and violence and mature themes, while still holding space for the coming of agent narrative that makes it YA - Kuang does this so well - it was done well in Babel, too. 

One thing I really adored: Rin immediately sterilizing herself. While I think its ridiculous that the narrative leaned towards implying women who are on their periods can't function/can't work, I do want to see more fiction in which young women firmly take charge of a child free life early, ruthlessly, and without hemming and hawing.

It's a wildly violent book that takes inspo directly from the Rape of Nanking and the atrocities of Unit 731, historical events that no one should be learning about f or the first time from this book -- but if they do, then Kuang gets kudos for leading readers to fill that gap in their education. On par with Red Rising, I actually do think some of the violence included here is gratuitous. 

I do think the pacing of this story was choppy and difficult to adjust to. The three parts felt like three separate books; I wanted more political foundation on why the war was breaking out, and I felt jerked around by how fast Rin went through the Academy -- two years felt glossed over in a handful of paragraphs. Then immediately Rin was on the front lines. 

I also felt like the relationships could have been fleshed out more - I felt little emotional impact when Nezha died, because the "resolution" of several years of intense sociopathic bullying happened so quickly I was unconvinced they were actually friends. Since Rin interacts with Atlan maybe once at the Academy, and then essentially builds up her "ideal" of him, I never bought into any sort of close relationship between the true - it felt like Kuang was relying on a) that they were from the same clan and b) she'd informed us they were close / Rin loved him - but Rin never knew Atlan, and time was not spent much on their relationship.

Right now I'm thinking I'd happily spend 7 books in this world, so I'm not sure why the first was so essentially rushed along - even for YA, its a little absurd how quickly all the adults/mentors disappeared and left a pack of like 20 brand new teenagers in charge (especially since several of the students survive despite all the veteran generals being immediately killed).

I've grown fond of Kuang's fearless reflection on violence, its effects, and its uses, though; the work is evident here, and possibly more mature in Babel, but I'd have to finish this trilogy to compare with any seriousness. 

One odd thing I noticed in some critiques of this book - accusations that Kuang "stole" things in her book from Chinese war theorists or sino history, but that's a weird thing to comment on. Kuang is obviously - and even states bluntly - inspired by Eastern history, but the paragons of the fantasy genre (Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones, even newer works like The Stormlight Archives_ are all expected re-imaginings of feudal Western Europe with magical twists. Kuang has ever right to use the same metric to produce representative fantasy - it makes it new, it makes it innovative, and it makes it inclusive and unique and interesting. Unless you're going to critique Tolkien by sniffing "he just stole this from World War One Era Europe" ... you're not really coming from a genuine point of view. 

Additionally, several comparisons to Patrick Rothfuss' "The Name of the Wind" - I read "The Name of the Wind" in January, and the first part of this book reads like a female, Eastern parallell of it -  I wouldn't argue that. Right down to an eccentric, Yoda-in-Empire-mentor to a insta-rivalry with an elitist asshole. However, while I read Rothfuss' book, I was pleasantly interested but not invested; the stories were appealing, but it was also just another white male fantasy story with a Mary Sue main man who needed to be taken down a notch, and even after hundreds of pages I didn't know what its thesis was or where it was going - and I have that book 4 stars, too! Even with similarities, Kuang's book is more nuanced, fresher, comes from a more varied and complex perspective, etc. and to just compare it to "The Name of the Wind" as a derivative work is reductive...because at the end of the day, all fantasy work is derivative of something, and any work that includes a "chosen" main character, a magical school, an orphan, and a great destiny is arguably a rip off of Harry Potter. I don't agree with anyone brushing this book off as derivative; this book is a first of its kind type of Eastern influenced provocative fantasy.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail