Reviews

Die Kaiserin by R.F. Kuang

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vduxz's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes

4.75

yars_reading_corner's review against another edition

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4.0

Trigger warning: rape, physical abuse, confinement, mental abuse, sexual assault, body horror, war, colonialism, political unrest, drug abuse, hallucinations, blood, profanity

The continuation of the poppy war is honestly so striking I did not expect Kuang to keep having rational points to make, after the first book, but she was only starting.

There is beautiful descriptions of how politics and war are the two sides of the same coin and the soldiers are only the pawns played by the higher-ups, the lives of people that suffer during conflict being merely expendable goods, how to the people in the position of power lives are not in the form of humans but numbers and bodies.

Power comes with its price and often times it's not easy to tell if it's worth it, that sometimes the oppressed, will make the worst decision to be able to pay back for what they have done to them, that sometimes it's not easy to tell who is the tyrant and who is right.

I love the character developments and shiftings in this book, there's introduction of more characters and detailed descriptions of their backgrounds and thought processes, but the original few have changed a lot since the first book and their points of views are not always on the same side to serve one clear goal, but decided from their own struggles and personal issues, and what they have been victims of.