Reviews tagging 'Rape'

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

2717 reviews

mycarefulcardinal's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

2.5

nothing characters with flimsy motivations, all over the place world building that is at times distracting, pacing that feels off ... some sections also feel weirdly disjointed ? i have more problems too but i don't feel like writing more 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Torture, Xenophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

katulienkaa's review against another edition

dark tense

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Genocide

Minor: Animal cruelty

valleo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War

amnessie's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Colonisation, and War

themoostconfused's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty and Excrement

katiemac620's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-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

3.0

Sometimes it's good to pick up a book without really knowing what it's about in order to avoid your expectations. And this is not one of those books. I really am conflicted about this story, it's so vividly written but jarringly sewn together that it should have been multiple books itself. I loved the first half where Rin is at the academy, and it is a good juxtaposition to the war in the second half. But by the end of the book I didn't like any of our main characters, especially Rin. The end of the book left such a bad taste in my mouth that I don't think I can continue with the series. (Just for notes: this is the first time I'm using the content warnings feature on this site and I've had to list 14 explicit warnings)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

emily_therese_4's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, and War

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Rape

Minor: Animal death, Misogyny, and Self harm

bri_14's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Whew this book was a RIDE. I thought it was gonna be much lighter than it actually was. But it might’ve been for the best bc it’s a more accurate portrayal—using people as weapons/vessels, the propaganda, loss of life and not in the literal. These kids had no childhood, causalities never got to age. Very depressing. It kinda feels like reading Naruto Shippuden once they hit the war eps. But it’s like being in the mind of Sasuke instead of following Naruto. Rin would both idolize  and despise that man😂

I was NOT able to predict any of the deaths.

Irjah, of course but ALTAN???

I really thought he would’ve lasted til the end. But I think it was better off if

Venka

died bc hearing her experience is kinda traumatizing. Realistic tho but just gruesome, I think my mind would’ve snapped. 

I’m thinking Rin will help reform the country, similar to the stories of the previous emperors or the play she watched with Kitay. I think ppl will fear her too much to harm her—maybe her master will put a finger to her forehead again and still her mind. And I refuse to believe

Nezha

is dead!!! There’s no way that would’ve happened off book, if he does die Rin will have to witness it bc she cares too much about him

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, Suicide, and Classism

Minor: Slavery

origami_cactus's review against another edition

medium-paced

1.5

I have mixed feelings about this book. I think there is some good writing in here and I think the first part is strong. However, I think it doesn't follow through on the character development. It uses some horrific events but it doesn't feel like the main character was affected by those events as much as she was affected by a different character's reaction to those events. I felt the ending, while better in my opinion than the 6 or so chapters that came before it, wasn't earned from the set up. I think perhaps it's due to an over reliance on a relationship between two characters that didn't feel strong enough to justify the lengths that Rin went though for them. I'm a bit disappointed because there are great ideas in here, but the execution leaves me wanting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Self harm

elenikin's review against another edition

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

4.75

Kuang is just awesome at world building and writing a fascinating plot! I was really excited start this series after reading (and loving) Babel, and I wasn't disappointed. I liked seeing Rin rise up from her rough beginnings, but things did get dark as it went along. The descriptions of the battles were gruesome but well written. Overall, I'm looking forward to continuing the series and seeing what happens next with Rin. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence