Reviews with content warning for Cursing - The Poppy War

I crushed this book in just over a week. So hard to put it down, even when you're being traumatised and having your heart torn out. What I'd give to have recorded my face journey during... that chapter... A whole lot of trigger warnings, some are just mentions but R F Kuang just went down the list and said "all of it." And I wouldn't have had it any other way.

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lily_kruse's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

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3hdragon's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

1.25

I can’t recommend this book. The pacing is all over the place, the plot seemed to have too many patches to make a cohesive plot, and the MC becomes increasingly less likeable throughout the book until by the end you’re rooting for her to not make it. She becomes more powerful and more bratty until you’re screaming at her to please make better choices and stop hurting everyone around her. By the end I was hoping she wouldn’t make it and the sequels would be about someone else.

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scarletreads_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.75

- Imagery was immaculate
- some parts were inconsistent (is shamanism widely acknowledged or not? I feel like they went back and forth in that one)
- Nezha was written really well ◡̈
- Venka was a wasted character ˙◠˙
- Her relationship with Kesegi was confusing & had no impact I think ˙◠˙ (unless this is addressed in the next books)
- pacing was decent
- most parts were uncomfortable to read & I think that's exactly how it's supposed to feel. (Wrecked me btw)
- The plot with the Empress felt like a missed twist bc it was revealed a bit earlier than expected,, what she (empress) did had no real impact on me at that time
- Overall, a good read

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pagesofpins's review against another edition

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2.0

The story drew me in immediately. It suffers a bit from HP comparison in the beginning (poor kid doesn't "belong" at special training school but is still massively talented and can outpace kids with a lifetime of tutoring and training, a rich kid with a lot of henchmen becomes a mortal enemy and they face off a lot, poor kid has one friend who was already a social B lister). I thought for sure this section went on for so long for character development, or so that there would be a breaking point in the main character's self destructive spiraling. Instead it appears that it was just a device to add context to who gets gang raped and tortured later.

I thought the story was really picking up when Rin begins training with one of the wackier and less respected masters, mastering the elements a la The Name of the Wind. At this point a war breaks out that is clearly the 2nd Shino Japanese War, and nearly every description of infant rape, mass murder of families, and creative torture was lifted directly from The Rape of Nanking. That work made some intelligent observations on what prompted men with no violent past to do such horrific things, but this work adds nothing thoughtful. There is no hint of how a nation heals after suffering atrocities like this. It's merely used as a device to add drama. I think sensitive elements in history can be responsibly represented in fantasy, but instead a team of X-Men wander the country wreaking havoc and our MC cries a lot about her abusive and problematic crush. Fantasy can add enough distance to see history clearly, or ask "what if it had happened differently?" I couldn't find either here.

It's possible in the sequel the Taiwanese will be more than a red eyed bloodthirsty race used as bargaining chips in battle, the Japanese will have some context as wealthy oppressors, the Chinese will be more than torture porn, and human experiments like Unit 731 will be treated with more gravity than a device for our heroine to understand her boyfriends drug addiction. But I won't be reading to find out.

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pagesihavenotyetread'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? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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kyajreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

This was a great introduction to Rin's world in Nikara, who overcomes the challenges she faces as a girl, a darker skinned person than her peers, and a poor, uneducated war orphan.
I know it's the intent of the book (being based on the second Sino-Japanese war and mid 20th century China) but its very obviously drawing from real events which, as the reader, definitely made the events in the book hit even harder, knowing that there's an element of truth in the pages.
The way the story is segmented felt so natural, and despite feeling like 'hard stops' in Rin's arcs, it definitely helped to show the passage of time/major event/environment change. I loved this approach.
The complex levels of each character, both main and secondary, and their relationships with one another were fantastic, heartwarming, anger inducing, heart-wrenching, triumphant.

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