Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

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

91 reviews

gumbi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Drug use, Vomit, Self harm, Racism, Cursing, Bullying, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Racial slurs

lainey_sherman3's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Torture, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Blood, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Sexual violence, and War

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

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

allisonmspiers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Racism, Physical abuse, Grief, Genocide, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Death, Classism, Violence, Cursing, Torture, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Child death, Medical content, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Drug use, Abandonment, Ableism, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Rape, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal death, Cannibalism, and Animal cruelty

Forced marriage, human experimentation, massacres, menstruation,

storyofmyshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Addiction, Sexual assault, Rape, Body horror, Murder, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Death, Xenophobia, Torture, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Hate crime, Drug use, Child death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Excrement, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Violence, Racism, Infertility, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury

kat1105's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Medical content, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Excrement, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Vomit, War, Blood, Bullying, Slavery, Suicide, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism and Animal cruelty

Minor: Pregnancy

hailsatan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Abortion, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Deportation, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, War, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Excrement, Infertility, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Hate crime, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

maricasement's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

• 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

I'd heard great things about The Poppy War in the high fantasy bubble of booktube, so I was excited to read it. It is a story that takes place in a fantastical China, in a period in between wars. Our main character, Rin, is a war orphan and she has grown up working for opium smugglers in a little town. When she discovers that she is going to be sold into marriage, she decides to try and get in to the most prestigious military academy in the country so that she can run away from this fate. You can probably already tell from that description, but please check the content warning for this if you want o read it, it does get quite heavy and graphic at times.
I won't get into many detail, but I thought it was only ok at the beginning. Rin was someone I could sympathise with, but her temperament and attitude were hard for me to connect with. Because of this, some of her choices frustrated me immensely. Unfortunately, this just got worse as I approached the end of Part 1 and started Part 2, and I decided to stop reading the book for a while. After I had let it stew in my mind, I finally got back to it, and my goodness did it pay off!
Some of the discussions and themes at the start of the book were very good and set some of the scene for the rest of the book, but they truly hit hard as the book progressed. (Spoilers ahead, maybe?) Lots of the themes relate to

how we see other humans and how that influences how we treat them (basically what leads people to kill and commit genocide), what pain and suffering makes people do, what war can do to people, fate and free will and how present choices affect the future

. What I thought was particularly interesting was how Kuang explored these themes from the perspective of different character's and leaves it up o the reader to decide who we think is right. She has the characters discuss these things and you can see Rin's and other character's opinions change and develop. As this happens and we accompany the characters' journeys, our thoughts change and Kuang makes this natural thing explicit on the page.
The end of the book is a culmination of all these themes and it is devastating, but you can't help wanting more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Child death, Sexism, Genocide, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Drug use, Racism, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Blood, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Medical content, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Rape, and Addiction

tabbed_reads2much's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

If 'The Mysterious Benedict Society' went to war.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Torture, Classism, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Drug use, Violence, War, Pregnancy, and Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Abandonment, Death, Excrement, Blood, Sexism, Slavery, Child abuse, Child death, Xenophobia, Body horror, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Genocide, Medical trauma, and Racial slurs

Minor: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Confinement, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

abijmieds's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Rape, Racism, Blood, Body horror, Xenophobia, Violence, Racial slurs, Murder, Incest, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Deportation, Death, Colonisation, Animal death, War, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Police brutality, Misogyny, Mental illness, Genocide, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Mass/school shootings, Drug use, Drug abuse, Classism, Chronic illness, Child death, Torture, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship