Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Poppy War (Perang Opium) by R.F. Kuang

1189 reviews

sph108's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

This book is dark and violent but worth it. Covers themes of good and evil and whether they can be the same 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Addiction, Murder, Death, Genocide, Child death, Rape, Torture, Sexual violence, Drug use, Self harm, and Physical abuse

mei33's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Racism, Cursing, Rape, Addiction, Child death, Torture, Death, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Sexism, Classism, Genocide, and Gore

Moderate: Medical content, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Classism, Medical trauma, Blood, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Misogyny

jane_farstrider's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Violence, Genocide, and Rape

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Torture, Addiction, and Child death

matttruss's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.25

Contains maybe the most brutal description of the evil of war, genocide, hatred, and torture I have ever read in a book.  However, it's not just brutal and grotesque for shock value, it very much serves a purpose and gets you in the same headspace as the main character so you can understand why she makes some of the worst possible decisions again and again.  Hatred is a strong theme in this book and it's fascinating to explore and watch the train wreck unfold.  The polar opposite of a pacifist/love thy enemy mindset this book explores the implications of hating an enemy so much you would destroy yourself to destroy them.  Themes of gods, why bad things happen to good people, the impact of deciding someone is less than human, the cost of war, and revenge, are all explored.  What starts as a typical "smart character gets sent to military academy" fantasy trope ends as a brutal artifice of war.  The book tackles several historical issues in a very clever way and really makes you think.  I really enjoyed.  Slight knock for me for the over-explanation of war tactics and strategy.  If you're into that kind of thing, this is a five star book, it just makes me glaze over.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, Body horror, War, and Torture

_marycappiello3's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Rape, Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Torture, Animal death, Death, War, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Kidnapping, Body horror, and Child abuse

lindsaybethlyons's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gore, Death, Child death, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Genocide, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Drug use, and Addiction

chris_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Animal death, Gore, Colonisation, War, Racism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, and Torture

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Grief, Drug abuse, Sexism, Child death, Self harm, and Sexual violence

Minor: Bullying, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Addiction, and Vomit

andreapepsii's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, War, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Rape, and Torture

Moderate: Racism

porktheorc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I really like this author's writing style and voice, but the book felt like it couldn't decide what it wanted to be. Coming-of-age magic school YA? Mentor/mentee bonding story? Devastatingly gruesome war book? The themes and tone changed drastically from act to act in the novel. I was left wondering if this was a villain origin story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Violence, Child death, Child abuse, and Sexual violence

aribookishly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, War, Ableism, Misogyny, Vomit, Addiction, Body horror, Colonisation, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Torture, Drug use, Genocide, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying