Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

230 reviews

tiadreamer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I knew I was gonna like it, but I didn’t quite expect to get sucked into it THAT hard. 

It’s graphic and disturbing at times that resonate a lot esp in light of current events, but also just when it comes to existing as a girl/woman. 

The only reason this isn’t 5 stars is bc it’s the first novel and I’m holding out until I’ve read the rest. 

Anyway I read this in a single day when I should have been busy doing productive things. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Classism, Child death, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

samflowerv6's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I was assigned this for school. The poppy war is a bloody, scorching coming of age story of an angry orphan who finds power within herself. Rin is such an interesting and complex character. Based on historical tribulations of China. Check trigger warnings. Kitay, Nezha, Altan, Jiang and Rin are such deep and beautiful characters. I will be continuing this series.

“I have become something wonderful, she thought. I have become something terrible. Was she now a goddess or a monster? Perhaps neither. Perhaps both.”

“I don't love you. And I can kill anything.”

Well, fuck the heavenly order of things. If getting married to a gross old man was her preordained role on this earth, then Rin was determined to rewrite it.

“Nothing is written," said the Phoenix. "You humans always think you're destinied for greatness. Destiny is a myth. Destiny is the only myth. The gods choose nothing. You chose. You chose to take the exam. You chose to come to Sinegard. You chose to pledge Lore, you chose to study the paths of the gods, and you chose to follow your commander's demands over your master's warnings. At every critical juncture you were given an option; you were given a way out. Yet you picked precisely the roads that led you here. You are at this temple, kneeling before me, only because you wanted to be.” 

“Jiang was wrong. She was not dabbling in forces she could not control, for the gods were not dangerous. The gods had no power at all, except what she gave them. The gods could affect the universe only through humans like her. Her destiny had not been written in the stars, or in the registers of the Pantheon. She had made her choices fully and autonomously. And though she called upon the gods to aid her in battle, they were her tools from beginning to end. She was no victim of destiny. She was the last Speerly, commander of the Cike, and a shaman who called the gods to do her bidding. And she would call the gods to do such terrible things.”

“I don't need your pity. I need you to kill them for me. You have to kill them for me," Venka hissed. "Swear it. Swear on your blood that you will burn them.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Body horror, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Infertility, Murder, Grief, Alcohol, Animal death, Sexism, Gore, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Death, Drug abuse, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Excrement, Genocide, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Drug use, Rape, Animal cruelty, Deadnaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Classism, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual harassment, Vomit, and War

miciahsreads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

characters - 1
worldbuilding - 1
writing - .75
enjoyment - .75
plot - .75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Death, Child death, War, Chronic illness, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Addiction, Racism, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Bullying, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Rape, Slavery, Murder, Sexism, Genocide, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Rape and Child abuse

mpfan's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Like if "The Young Elites" by Marie Lu and "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black had a baby.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Violence

Minor: Mental illness, Sexual violence, Genocide, and Torture

alex_salamander's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Vomit, Rape, War, Grief, Death, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Violence, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Body horror, Gore, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Child death, and Racism

Moderate: Confinement, Body shaming, Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

lighterthaneyre's review

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

4.5

Extremely good. Extremely good. It's clear to me that the main character is supposed to be likeable, but she is not meant to be a good person.

Main Character reflection:

She's terribly clever, but at several points willfully dense. Because sometimes it's easier to not acknowledge truth when anger and retaliation feel so good in the moment. Every warning she gets, she reflects later on with something like regret. It's not regret, it's almost nostalgia for the person she was allowed to be before she choose her path. She's told repeatedly about costs, and refuses to internalize it. But at the same time, the anger and fear and rashness are this very relatable Thing. This series is going to be a tragedy, it seems. Rin will be her own destruction.

Themes:

The way trauma and violence changes Rin is very interesting. She's always been driven (possibly too much) but prior to Golyn Niis, she doesn't react to war with retaliation. She thought striking back against the Federation in Khurdalain was "halfhearted, disrespectful and pointless" (Ch 16). By the end, she's pivoted entirely, so that striking back is the most important thing. More important than safety of her own side, or the ability to live a "avenged" life in peace. There is only the next Real Enemy. I think exploring that change is sort of fascinating. She suffers terrible traumas, but it's pointed out repeatedly that her friends suffered worse. Kitay lived through the actual events of Golyn Niis. Alton spent years enduring torture and more direct memories of the genocide of his people. Not that this is a suffering Olympics, but it's to say that this wasn't inevitable. Some of her friends are horrified by what she's done. And I think is the difference is in the lies Rin tells herself. "I won't go out like this", "power is the only solution", "a good martial artist is a good commander/wise leader". She wants to believe, so she turns off her other lines of thought. And she becomes a monster. A monster who lies and says she's in control.

The trigger warnings are no joke, as a heads up.

The most graphic violence is an after the fact recounting and a review of the aftermath. That being said, it is pure human evil ripped from real life history books. It is the sort of trauma that creates monsters. Even as presented it's pretty disturbing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Grief, Bullying, Classism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, War, and Mental illness

Minor: Drug use, Addiction, and Animal cruelty

sunriseat0519's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Violence, Blood, Drug use, War, Addiction, Murder, Rape, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, and Mental illness

Moderate: Colonisation, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

lilaudio'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? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Racism, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

laniloureads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.75

This series has my heart. R.F. Kuang pulls you in, builds this world brick by brick and throws you into the deep end. 

This is definitely a reflective fantasy, with social and political commentary I dont often see so horrifically and wondrously written. This whole series is a must - though prepare for a decent book hangover after book three. I had a good cry and stared at my ceiling for a while after finishing this series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Sexual assault, Gore, Sexual violence, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Addiction, Body horror, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

My tags are not covering everything but mostly can be applied to all three books in the series.

lizmart88's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad fast-paced

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

3.75

Amazing worldbuilding in just one novel, drawing on the history of China as well as the world history of wars and battles. I loved the building toward the question of  - how and why do people dehumanize others? What affect does it have on our hearts and our humanity? 

Rin is a character loveable for all her flaws and determination to succeed despite her difficult childhood. She is frustratingly smart and relentless and we watch her fly headlong into terrible choices while still cheering her on. She carries this novel so well as we learn more about the world of the Nikara and Mugen, enemies for so many years they can't remember why they hate each other when they are so alike. 

This is book one and I'm excited to keep reading the trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Genocide

Moderate: Mental illness