Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

259 reviews

nyieon's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Kidnapping, Murder, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Grief, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Child abuse, Classism, Violence, and War

lucylovesgrapes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative 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

my new favourite fantasy series. masterfully written and i am in awe that someone has written it. r.f. kuang writes rin as one of the most HUMAN characters i've read. she is brave and strong and intelligent and resilient and steadfast in her beliefs, but she's also vengeful, angry, disturbed by the atrocities she sees, scared, guilty and shameful. can't say i liked her at the end, but i also can't hate her. we are so entrenched in rin and her beliefs that not even slighlty understanding her rage and need for vengeance is impossible. this book was written by a deity among people. the shamanism is such an interesting process. there is no good governing body in the book and it just perfectly shows that everything isn't black and white. also, many parts of this book, if not all of it, reflect the current geopolitical climate. the utter frustration, guilt and helplessness is so familiar. i am so exicted to read the dragon republic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, War, Death, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Drug abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Cursing and Animal death

ladynocturnal's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

 I couldn't put this down. The world building and characters were captivating. There were some rushed elements, but I loved this novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, War, Addiction, Blood, Colonisation, Gore, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Xenophobia, Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual violence

Minor: Bullying and Self harm

chronicacademia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Genocide, Kidnapping, Abortion, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Death, Gore, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, War, Child abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Ableism, Colonisation, and Fire/Fire injury

mir_frog73'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

This book man. Chapter 21 has probably the most gruesome account of war I’ve ever read or been told about and the fact that it was based on true events is horrific. I’m naming my bat rin because she’s an icon. Part 1 was incredible I read it in one day, the school setting was so much fun to read and learn about everything. Part 2 felt a little long but the end of part two was very intriguing. I enjoyed the plans and strategies. Part 3 was horrific, I also read it in one day I’ll never get over venka’s dialogue. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Kidnapping, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Vomit, War, Abandonment, Body horror, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Sexism, Trafficking, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Violence, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Cursing

cocochanel5's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

The way I wanted this book to end but wanted it to keep going. I was so ready to be done with it but still wanted to read. Idk if it was the kindle version but the grammatical errors along with missing info annoyed me. For instance they would be going to the mountains and then all the sudden the horse needs to rest. Like when did they get a horse?! I’ll probably read the rest of the series but you definitely need a break from the amount of death in this story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Blood, Sexual assault, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Rape, War, Gore, Death of parent, Torture, Murder, Self harm, Abortion, Cursing, Death, Child death, Violence, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Addiction, and Child abuse

weareinheritors's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

1.0

Hoo boy, this book.

Hated the first half. I don't like academy/school fiction. This book had most of the tropes (plain girl good at everything, abusive curriculum, shitty teachers, two gorgeous boys (a rich Malfoy and a dark stranger)—thank goodness there was no romance, goofy best guy friend, etc). It was a slog and I nearly DNFd it, if not for the supposed promise of the better second half...

Which. My goodness, the whiplash. 

The second half is not for the faint of heart, from the (TW)

Rape of Nanjing sequence to the descriptions of actual rape to full-on genocide

. 

It's an okay book, but Rin is so damn unlikeable. The surrounding cast are decent at their best, but Rin is so detestable that she drags them all down with her. The ending feels like she's gonna

start a revolution

or something, but I don't see anybody rallying behind her for any reason other than maybe fear.

I'll get to the sequel eventually. Maybe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Addiction, Genocide, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Gore, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

taemd58's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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: Genocide, Murder, Rape, Infertility, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Body horror, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Violence, Vomit, War, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, and Hate crime

maxcarwile's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Murder, Violence, Torture, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, War, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Addiction, Sexual violence, Death, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Kidnapping and Medical content

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

rilakkumas's review against another edition

dark 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: Child death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, Slavery, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Blood, Body horror, Medical trauma, Rape, Addiction, Torture, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Gore, Animal death, Hate crime, Violence, and War