Reviews with content warning for Genocide - The Poppy War (Perang Opium)

Listen, anyone who has read any of my reviews of Miss R.F. Kuang's novels, know I am a big fan of her writing. However, I was not a big fantasy reader until recently. After my time with Babel and Yellowface, I figured that The Poppy Wars would be a great fantasy series for me to start. And boy howdy was it.

Kuang once again has crafted a world (read: narrative) that is incredibly easy to get lost in (in a good way!). She has given us a gritty fantasy book with a fascinating magic system rooted in real world issues like colonialism and traumas caused by wars and years of political unrest and racism. She continues to research her novels, blending in Chinese history and religions (Taoism) to support the world she is creating. I will say I did, audibly, say "Isn't that Sun Tzu?" the first time we received any of the direct teachings of Sunzi... come to later then find out that that is literally the romanized spelling of Sun Tzu and I do still remember The Art of War.

The characters are compelling and feel grounded. I find that sometimes this gets lost in fantasy and it becomes too difficult to relate to the characters because their world is too different from our own. Once again though, Kuang finds a way to balance the familiar with the unfamiliar. I fell in love with Rin and her stubbornness to change a system she was born and ultimately forced into once her disillusionment fell away. I fell in love with the ultimately hopelessness in this book. Though I have to ask, R.F. Kuang are you okay?? I feel like you only write sadness and suffering. (And the fact this was your debut??? Hello????)

Placing these young children who become young adults in this world where no punches are held back and having them all suffer deeply, is fascinating. I see many reviews (and even folks I've talked to in person) call this book too grotesque. However, this is just the reality of war. People at all ages faces these horrors in war-torn nations. Kuang has just incapsulated it in a nice, neat little package that screams YA fantasy to the unknowing and punches them with grimdark. Beware the warnings. Enjoy the writing.

This is such an interesting first installment in this series, and I cannot wait to continue onwards.

(Also, I promise this book didn't take me three months to actually read. I just moved right as I started it and then forgot to pick it back up... I probably read it in the span of four nights.)

Content Warnings

hmclion's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

This was both a captivating and inevitable read. The world created pulled you in quickly, and I appreciated the quick 'growing up' timeline taking place through the school years. However I found the main character Rin frustrating. She is a step past an anti hero and closer to a villain, while constantly not seeing that about herself which makes the book outcome unsurprising. There are interesting suggestions of sub stories which should be picked up in later books but which were passed by lightly in this one. The other characters add interest into this book, and I am certain I will be picking up the next one to see where the story goes. The writing is generally excellent, and while topics of genocide and war are bravely tackled and pretty graphic, they are done in a way which conveys the horrors while not glorifying them.

Content Warnings

r_louhi's review against another edition

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The graphic scenes upset me and I needed to put it down.

Content Warnings

makeever8's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
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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jessm67's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

queermothman's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.25

Originally I rated this 3 stars because I ended up kind of frustrated with it by the end. Then after thinking on it some more, I decided to bump my rating up to 4, since overall, I did enjoy the story and world building quite a lot.

My main complaint is Rin. Not really her as a character, but how the author decides to handle her. I just don't find characters who are The Best at Everything all that interesting. I also found the sexism aspect of the world building to only be applied when convenient.

Overall, it's a very daring and well thought out story. The graphic violence at one point made me feel physically sick, but at no point did it feel "glorified" as some other reviews are saying. The violence felt very much like, "Hey, this is what war is like. It's extremely fucked up."

I will be continuing the series.

Content Warnings

michaelmarshall's review against another edition

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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

4.0

Content Warnings

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