Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

55 reviews

meganpbell's review against another edition

challenging dark informative 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

4.5

Everything you’ve heard about this brutal achievement of an epic fantasy is true—it’s grim, dark, and will leave you gutted. Inspired by the events of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the most ghastly aspects of The Poppy War are horrific because they’re based in historical truth. Through following Rin from child to student to soldier to shaman, R. F. Kuang graphically demonstrates the evils of imperialism and war, as well as rage and vengeance. I’m scared and a little sick to my stomach, but let’s start the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Genocide, Murder, Blood, Drug use, Classism, Grief, Addiction, Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

Minor: Infertility, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

naturally's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

i've made piece with the fact that r.f.kuang's academic prowess is virtually inseparable from her creative writing. she tells stories like she's writing a text book...which isn't necessarily a bad thing! on one hand, there's little room left for subtext and there are times when we are told large blocks of information through character conversations. luckily i had no issue with skim reading bc, i was really invested in the world and the war she's created for the poppy war.

our heroine rin is the perfect shade of grey. the pacing at the beginning of the story was very slow, but i'm glad i stuck with rin's journey. her motivation for wanting to go to the sinegard are simple and strong. the scene where she

self-sterilises was...wow. i wasn't expecting it. but her reasoning was written very convincingly.

. 

the military academy portion was my favourite part of the book, and i think rin made some really touching friendships there. rin's relationships with other characters - specifically jiang and altan added to her complexities. there was so much to analyse, and this is only the first book! (imo rin attributes power with safety, but in actuality, on top is the most dangerous place to be as someone will always seek to rob her of such a high status.)

call me delulu...but i'm convinced that nezha is still alive. and that he will return in book 2. his rivallry with rin really snuck up on me, i wasn't expecting to enjoy their dynamic as much as i did. naturally, there is no place for a romance between them in the midst of so much war and violence. plus, rin's aversion to marriage, fertility etc means there will always be a strong denial from her end.

the revelation that rin was

a speerly felt very...anti-climactic. one character connected the dots, told her she was from speer...and rin just accepted it. from that point onward she was a speerly...

idk...i expected this bombshell to trigger a deep reflection into rin's identity and maybe an exploration of grief. but the overall writing style was a barrier to accessing rin's introspection.

very curious to see how this journey continues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Colonisation, Drug use, Misogyny, Murder, Addiction, Classism, Grief, Racism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Ableism, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

Moderate: Rape and Pregnancy

kibiiiariii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Drug use, Slavery, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Torture, Trafficking, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child death, Toxic friendship, War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Cursing, and Death

secretgoldfish's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

I've never read a book where I didn't know who to root for by the end. I've also never read a book that went from 0 to 100 so fast.
The vibe of this book is the scene in Mulan where they're singing about girls and then they come over the hill and see the village burned to the ground.
Its so sudden. So jarring. And so intense. I loved every second of this book. Its so real and mystical at the same time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Vomit, Bullying, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, War, Addiction, Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, Classism, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Child death, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

donzzles's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

fang runin girlboss slay go commit your funky little harrowing war crimes queen!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Body horror, Colonisation, Gore, Murder, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, and Genocide

Moderate: Self harm, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence

Minor: Ableism

comfycozytomes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book went from 1 - 100 simultaneously so gradually and so quickly. I truly had no idea what this book was about going into it and I feel truly changed upon finishing it. A hauntingly, brutal and beautifully written story. This book is such a journey and asks truly difficult questions in the prelude to the end, what is an acceptable sacrifice in the face of war, in the face of total annihilation, how far is too far, what is justice...what is justifiable...and how can you come back from the choices you make with the circumstances presented to you? 

The allusions to true history are so well integrated into the themes of this fictional story, I recommend everyone read the author's note in the back, which references the nonfiction books/scenes/references woven into this story. I truly wept when I read Kuang's words in that section as I reflected upon those moments in the book, it added a new layer to what I had only suspected from my limited memory/knowledge as I read the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Rape, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Racism, and Torture

ibroughtyouknives's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Confinement, Body horror, Classism, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Genocide, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, War, and Cursing

Moderate: Abortion, Alcohol, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Sexual violence

Minor: Ableism

ali_arkanciel's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism

shellroch285's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.75

I’m not a big fan of military fantasy, but I felt like this was really well-written and enjoyed seeing the characters make decisions! I felt like I learned a lot from this book about the craft of writing, and I’m looking forward to reading the second in the trilogy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Genocide, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Blood, Slavery, and Torture

Minor: Fatphobia and Ableism

droggelbecher42's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Very good book, but I didn't know what I was getting into. The beginning reads so much like a classic coming-of-age (gifted kid goes to academy) book that I didn't expect the graphic violence later on. But even the beginning, slow parts with lots of common tropes was very well written and I honestly wouldn't have minded reading a whole book about only Sinegard.
I think I do want to read the rest of the series, but might need a breather inbetween, because this was so heavy

The description of the massacre Golyn Niis genuinely made me feel sick, because it was so well written. Also Kitay is my favourite character and I don't care that he might have betrayed Rin & Atlan to the federation (let's be honest, he knew where they were going and that last conversation on the ship was very sus)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Racism, War, Classism, Violence, Xenophobia, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Genocide, and Torture

Moderate: Misogyny, Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Rape, and Grief