Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

240 reviews

ellenwm's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

Fantastic, creative and original novel. Really loved the character growth and world building. Kuang builds on pieces of real Chinese and Japanese history, and creates a real, complex world. The way she seamlessly digs into colonization, oppression, classism, racism, colorism, patriarchy, violence. Oh man! The thoughtful reflection on power structures is woven into a fantasy world that gives classic tropes a little twist. You see how cultures and people can be both oppressed and oppressor. In a single brief scene we can learn about the struggles of the world, our MC’s motivations and views of herself, the society’s values, and the abusive sacrifices they push on children. But it never reads like a lecture. RIN! Oh Rin. I cannot wait to see where she goes in the next 2 books. There were times I absolutely could not stop listening to the audiobook and had to know where it was going. A bit of warning though, there were also times in the back half I had a hard time picking it up again because of the descriptions of the horrific brutalities of war. It’s not a large part of the book, but the imagery in some of the retelling is graphic. Check all the content warnings! The violence and cruelty are purposeful though, and not played for shock factor. Really enjoyed the author’s writing style and the audiobook narrator’s voices were perfect!

TL;DR: If you liked the war college aspects of Fourth Wing but wanted a fuller, fleshed out world, with a lot less faffing around and swooning, with a true underdog story and much darker magic… you’ll love this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Genocide, War, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Gore, Body horror, Kidnapping, Violence, Torture, Child death, Addiction, Infertility, Blood, Colonisation, Sexism, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racism, and Rape

lydia203's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Vomit, War, Violence, Cursing, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Classism, Body shaming, Torture, Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Toxic friendship, Slavery, Animal death, Terminal illness, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Blood, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Confinement, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

shottel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I thought the hype over The Poppy War was probably unwarranted. I was wrong. If you can handle the visceral horror of the second half - without spoiling anything, it gets really dark - this is a must-read. Set in a fictional world heavily based on the interwar period, it takes heavily from the Second Sino-Japanese War, a topic western audiences are less likely to be familiar with. This gives it an unfamiliar, original touch even as it enjoyably uses well-established character types and tropes. It’s a great time - again, if you can get past situations that outstrip the darker parts of Game of Thrones.

The book rests on two interconnected themes. The first: The horrors that occur when humans think they are bigger and more important than they actually are. The second: The line between justice and revenge, and the consequences of pursuing the latter. These themes are explored through bigotry in the form of racism, classism, and sexism (primarily in the first half) and total war (primarily in the second half). It strikes a masterful balance between being too subtle and too outright as the story plays out and revolves around these themes. Neither preachy nor cryptic.

I recommend this book to any fiction reader who can handle the all-too-real depictions of human-inflicted atrocities. [If you’re on the edge, I attempted to be as thorough as I could with my content warnings attached to this review. This is one of the few times I’d actually recommend checking content warnings prior to reading a book.]

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Genocide, Child death, Murder, Physical abuse, Addiction, Torture, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Classism, Body horror, Confinement, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Grief, Infertility, Excrement, and Pedophilia

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, and Vomit

noms01's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Death, Drug use, Child abuse, Blood, Addiction, Classism, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, and War

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Abandonment, Medical content, Slavery, and Sexism

harrimyers's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexual assault, Addiction, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, War, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Bullying, Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Abandonment, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Infertility, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

booksmoviesandstories's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Vomit, War, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Drug use, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Grief, and Racism

maria_7733's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Drug use, Death, War, Sexism, Misogyny, Child death, Classism, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

bookhoe1's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Mental illness, Gore, Body horror, War, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Animal death, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Vomit, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Sexism, Racism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Child death, and Animal cruelty

fantasynarwhal's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Murder, Rape, Violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, War, Gore, Suicide, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Infertility, Bullying, Colonisation, Cannibalism, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Death, Torture, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Suicide attempt

hunterkat's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow. So tws for this book? All of them. Not even kidding. I read the most graphic and horrific chapter I have ever read in this book. 

I have a hard time rating this book. It gets 5 stars because it did what it wanted to do extremely well. But it’s not an *enjoyable* read. I don’t mean because the plot is boring, it’s badly written, anything like that. In fact it’s extremely hard to put down and written well. But what this book wants to do and what it does well is show the horrors of war. The danger of seeing your enemies as less than human. The futility of revenge and anger and how it makes everything worse in the end. You may hate the main character but you can track along with her mindset and why she makes the decisions she does. 

It’s a rough read. Every violent tw I can thing of happens in this book. It does not hold back. But if you can stomach the gruesomeness, it’s very successful at it’s points. Don’t read this expecting a light hearted military fantasy. Read this expecting to cover your face or mouth with one hand, turning the page with another, and reading with one eye between your fingers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Trafficking, Self harm, Sexual assault, War, Violence, Gore, Body horror, Rape, Physical abuse, Addiction, Torture, and Animal death

Moderate: Body horror, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Sexism