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

This book is insane.
Karena buku ini buku pertama, kita dapat pengenalan dunia The Poppy War pelan-pelan, ga langsung seabrek jadi meskipun bikin penasaran maksudnya percakapan si A ini apa, pembaca ga bakal kebingungan dengan banyaknya informasi karena ntar juga dijelasin di bab-bab selanjutnya.
Seperti buku-buku R.F. Kuang yang lain, meskipun buku ini buku terjemahan, bahasanya mudah dipahami dan engaging banget. Sebagai pembaca yang suka masukin 3-4 buku dalam current read, aku ga bisa berpaling dari buku ini buat nyari buku selingan. Deskripsi yang digunakan untuk segala hal di buku ini juga pas porsinya sesuai dibutuhkan, jadi pembaca ga sampai bosan.
Seperti yang disebutkan di blurb, buku ini terinspirasi dari chinese history yang bikin aku mengira-ngira wilayah ini di dunia nyata sebenarnya apa ya atau negara ini kayaknya negara anu deh di dunia nyata. Selain itu jenis bahasa yang digunakan para karakternya (meskipun R.F. Kuang ga menciptakan bahasa baru) juga aku pikir juga berasal dari bahasa dunia nyata, kayak logat Sinegard mungkin kayak American English, sedangkan logat orang-orang Tikany kayak British English.
Di buku ini kita bisa melihat perkembangan karakter Rin sebagai tokoh utama dan gimana pembaca bisa terus mengikuti kisahnya meskipun Rin sudah memiliki pendapat yang jauh berbeda dari awal dia muncul. Aku suka semua karakter yang dimunculkan di buku ini terlepas mereka baik atau jahat, menurutku mereka sudah melakukan tugas mereka sebagai karakter tertentu dengan menggunakan potensi mereka. Yang kejam yaudah kejam banget, yang masih bingung dibikin makin bingung, dan yang sudah merasa punya pandangan tertentu tentang peperangan bakal terus mengeksplorasi karakternya seputar peperangan.
Beberapa hal sudah bisa ditebak, tapi emang buku ini bukan buku mystery atau detektif juga jadi pembaca yang bisa menebak pun kayaknya juga bukan sesuatu yang wow.
Banyak banget trigger warning, hampir semua daftar di trigger warning di storygraph aku pakai semua, meskipun buku ini kayaknya YA.
Aku jadi ingin baca buku yang menceritakan POV Nezha karena aku penasaran apa yang dia lakukan selama dia tidak berada di sekitar Rin, dan kenapa dia tau-tau muncul lagi terus menghilang lagi.
Meskipun buku ini penuh kekejaman perang dan trigger warning, aku sempet ngerasa ngeri dan ngilu, tapi ga sampe membekas terlalu lama. Buku Uprooted yang aku baca tahun lalu cukup bikin mual dan sakit kepala, entah kenapa, padahal buku ini lebih brutal, which is something I admire from R.F. Kuang. Bisa bikin buku yang menunjukkan gimana parahnya peperangan,tapi ga sampe bikin trauma, karena sebenarnya aku jenis pembaca yang selalu menghindari topik peperangan dalam sebuah buku.

Content Warnings

csmall73's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

It was very dark. Much darker than I thought it would be. I enjoyed the development of story, the characters are endearing and heart breaking.

Content Warnings

trash_reader_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

4.5

I didn't appreciate how dark this book actually was until I started reading. R. F. Kuang built a beautifully grotesque story based on China's brutal history, and this tale sucks you in from the very beginning.

Even though the first half of the book takes place in an elite military school, Run suffers ostracization for everything that she is, but she doesn't let that deter her from achieving her goals. She does that by breaking rules, but hey - whatever makes you great, right? Rin's character development was amazing. You see her struggle through the consequences of being different both in school and outside of it. You see her try to fit herself into molds she thinks she has to fill to achieve what she wants. You see her realize who she is and what she wants to be. Rin's growth was amazing and I loved reading it.

R. F. Kuang did not pull punches when it came to pain, though. Her characters suffer, and in turn so does the reader. There are very gruesome scenes of death and torture, and it made it difficult to read at times. It is a dark war fantasy, so it isn't like I wasn't expecting some depictions of death, but it does hit you hard when you actually get to that point in the book. It doesn't last for very long, maybe 2 chapters, 3 at the most, but it's enough to turn some people off. Especially with how detailed the scenes are.

This was an amazing start to both a series and a war. I'm so excited to read the other two installments, although I don't think my heart can take much more pain. This book was a rough, painful read, but I couldn't find the strength to put it down, the hold it had over me was that strong.

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donatio's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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fedekanejbrainrot's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

if this isn't the best fantasy you've ever read, then what the hell did you read

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