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clea'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
5.0
The characters are written so authentically, you really think that they are real people. They are flawed, make bad decisions (and are sometimes infuriatingly annoying) but are so inherently human that you can only feel with and root for them. I found Rin's character arc specifically satisfying/fascinating.
The political intrigues were substantially brought onto the next level in this book and made it so much more engaging and addictive. I especially liked the extremely intricate relationships between the characters. Nothing is simple, nothing is what it seems which is quite realistic and makes you all the more interested.
Kuang manages to give a perfect balance between emotional, character focused sections and action-packed, epic scenes. You get a deep insight into the protagonists and thus a profound character analysis, but without a lack of suspense and action.
If you love (dark) high-fantasy, you will adore this trilogy!
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Colonisation, Body horror, Blood, and Animal death
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Vomit, and Confinement
reviewsandreadathons'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
Graphic: Rape, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Torture
bookbaristeas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, and Violence
annettewolf'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
I don't know how to write about a protagonist who I kind of hate but also love and feel really conflicted about empathizing with. The people around Rin are sometimes more exciting than Rin herself, but she's the lynchpin. There are characters who I don't believe are dead, and characters who I'm really sad to have seen die, and characters who I wish would go ahead and die already. This book kind of inures you to death, honestly. You start to wonder (and worry) if you could look at war as objectively as Rin and her classmates from Sinegard do.
The writing continues to be excellent, and the story is more complex, bringing more cultures and experiences into the narrative so that we have a full grounding in the world. It's an excellent continuation, and doesn't suffer from the second-book slump that so many trilogies fall prey to. I'm definitely going to read the third book--I just might take a break and read some lighter stuff first. Palette-cleansers are encouraged with this trilogy.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Violence, Self harm, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Physical abuse, Medical content, Gun violence, Grief, Genocide, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Blood, and Addiction
Minor: Confinement, Abortion, and Murder
fiveredhens'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
"Our dead don't leave us," said the Sorqan Sira. "They'll haunt you as long as you let them. That boy is a disease on your mind. Forget him."
"I can't." She pressed her face into her hands. "He was brilliant. He was different. You'd have never met anyone like him."
"You would be stunned." The Sorqan Sira looked very sad. "You have no idea how many men are like Altan Trengsin."
better than the first in the most brutal way possible
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, and Sexual content
Minor: Abortion, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Excrement, Grief, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Vomit
hanarama'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
5.0
- Well developed characters.
- Challenging topics, specifically concerning the cycles of war and violence.
- Engaging plot, keeps you wanting more.
The Bad:
- Characters are extremely morally gray (may be off-putting to some readers).
- Slower middle section.
The second installment of the Poppy War trilogy builds exponentially on the themes introduced in the first book. Even as the war ends, another begins while Rin struggles to strengthen and stabilize her bond with the Phoenix.
The story is an extremely frank depiction of wartime and the life of a soldier, while still integrating fantasy elements. Readers picking this series up should be extremely cautious for this reason. Additionally, even "good guys" commit heinous acts as a part of their effort to win. Readers need to be aware that the protagonists are not necessarily in the right or moral people. Kuang's world setting is very grey and morally complicated.
The character development in this book is excellent. Kuang is great at writing charismatic characters that are likable despite their evil actions. Likewise, she is excellent at subtly building up to twists in the narrative that are at once surprising, but totally in line with the characters as they have been written.
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence
andreia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
just to clarify, i've read some 5 star reviews of this and i can totally see why people love it & why this series is so praised. i really can. my rating is completely subjective and based on my personal enjoyment reading this, but i can understand how this would appeal to a lot of people because it's not by any means objectively bad.
it's hard to read a book about constant war, at times with very explicit violence, and have fun reading it. especially when you're very aware that immense suffering/violence is happening in real life (at the time i was reading this: palestine, columbia, india, etc.). it just feels very strange to willingly spend my free time picking up a book where the characters are constantly suffering.
and i know that's the point of this series, it relies heavily on real life events, the history of china, and it doesn't shy away from showing the true horrors of war. but knowing that didn't make it any easier to get through. this is so bleak from page 1 to the very end that it was hard for me to want to continue reading it.
it really didn't help that i was annoyed with rin the entire time. in my tpw review, i was ready to lay hands on anyone that dared criticize rin. i sympathized with her so much and was really rooting for some character growth in the second book. now i'm not even sure the author wants us to like rin. the way almost every single character called rin out on her bullshit throughout this book showed me that rebecca f. kuang knew exactly what she was doing, but i cannot for the life of me understand why you would want your main character to be so selfish, hypocritical and apathetic, even towards her closest friends.
i found it hard to care about anything that was happening because it was very obvious rin didn't care either. i feel like she completely lost her personality in this book and became someone who is inconvenient at the worst possible times and completely useless when we actually need her to take action. again, it's hard for me to care about anything if i'm not rooting for the main character.
i was also infuriated whenever altan was mentioned in this book because i really can't stand that man, so you can imagine my struggle when they would literally not stop talking about him the entire time. i was somewhat interested in chaghan x altan but the fact that it was causing so much conflict with rin became annoying after a while. my expectation going into this would be that rin would learn from what happened with altan and grow into someone who knows her worth and stands up for herself. instead, SURPRISE, fucking vaisra is here to be the next altan and rin is back to letting a horrible abusive man dictate her life/purpose for her. the worst part is that it's a conscious choice, she literally says at some point that she needs to be used and given orders so she has a purpose.
i can't even tell what the author's intentions were because it was all very inconsistent at times. i can kind of see how this might be a realistic portrayal of a young woman who's been through everything rin has, but there's so many moments where she's completely ready to take on the world and fight anyone in her way, and then just as quickly she's back to square 1 after an inconvenience.
other than that, i can't say i was surprised by any other plot twist that happened in this book, unfortunately it was all very predictable. which is not necessarily a bad thing, especially being based in real history, but yeah. if i'd been more invested in the characters i might overlook it, but since i'm annoyed at pretty much everyone (except kitay and the cike), well.
ultimately, i think reading this right after tpw also did not help because, again, this whole series is so dark and bleak, there's not a moment's rest for the violence and sadness, which understandably brought my mood down a little. at times i even felt like certain acts of violence and the way they were explicitly written were purely for shock value (like the rape scene, which made me so uncomfortable i'm still not over it, and i'm angry that it's a thing because it feels pointless to be that descriptive. i get it, it's a war, these things happen, but you can't convince me that scene added anything to the plot other than shock value).
i am gonna read the third book because i've already gotten this far and would like to see how it ends for all the characters (especially nezha). but i'm definitely gonna take a break from this series for a while before finishing because i can't say i'm looking forward to it </3
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
erenreads12'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: Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Genocide, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Murder, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
maddiebusick'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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, and Genocide
Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Vomit
ireadinbed's review against another edition
- 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 found the relationships in this book so much better developed and interesting and the action sequences were really fun to read. Plus the ultimate villains are TERRIFYING.
But I will say I kept feeling like I was missing stuff occasionally. Like stuff that should have been in page was off page or something? But I also read it in three big chunks so could be user error.
Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Religious bigotry, Rape, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, and Addiction
Moderate: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Self harm, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Blood, and Animal death