Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

544 reviews

lilyruby's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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: Rape, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

booknerdcoco's review against another edition

challenging dark informative 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

3.75

This book was so far out of my comfort zone. I don't usually go for grimdark fantasy. That being said, the Story was very well written. I did initially struggle with the world building, but it didn't take long to get a tester understanding of Kuang's world and the usual system in play.

I admit I really struggled with the content as the story does differ some dark themes in great detail and three fact that it is loosely based on historic events really impacts on the readers emotions as the journey through the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, Death, Animal death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Genocide, Violence, War, Gore, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Torture

serenabean's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Racism, Violence, Rape, and Sexual violence

kitten_nugget's review

dark reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, Sexual violence, and Rape

Moderate: Xenophobia

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

megsssss_'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cultural appropriation, Deportation, Hate crime, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, War, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Colonisation, Blood, Child abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Rape, Slavery, and Xenophobia

averyadventurous's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

There’s been talk in a lot of bookish spaces about fantasy as a genre having an empire problem. R.F. Kuang completely subverts that trope. Empires are bad. Power of any type is bad. She pulls no stops with this book. It’s brutal. It’s disgusting. It’ll make you question your life choices and reconsider everything you think you know about world history. I need the rest of the series immediately.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Genocide, Violence, War, Drug use, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Torture, Body horror, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Infertility, Sexual violence, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Child death, Addiction, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

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

lenavejar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Genocide, Animal death, Child death, Death, Blood, War, and Drug use

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Suicide

Minor: Vomit and Xenophobia