Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

132 reviews

viviandoeshaveaclue's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.75

Absolutely amazing and saddening at the same time. Definitely will be thinking about Rin, Alton, Kitay, Nezha, and Venka for the next few days.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, War, Sexual assault, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Genocide, Torture, Rape, Drug abuse, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Body horror, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Medical content, and Death

Minor: Vomit

pagesofpins's review against another edition

2.0

The story drew me in immediately. It suffers a bit from HP comparison in the beginning (poor kid doesn't "belong" at special training school but is still massively talented and can outpace kids with a lifetime of tutoring and training, a rich kid with a lot of henchmen becomes a mortal enemy and they face off a lot, poor kid has one friend who was already a social B lister). I thought for sure this section went on for so long for character development, or so that there would be a breaking point in the main character's self destructive spiraling. Instead it appears that it was just a device to add context to who gets gang raped and tortured later. 

I thought the story was really picking up when Rin begins training with one of the wackier and less respected masters, mastering the elements a la The Name of the Wind. At this point a war breaks out that is clearly the 2nd Shino Japanese War, and nearly every description of infant rape, mass murder of families, and creative torture was lifted directly from The Rape of Nanking. That work made some intelligent observations on what prompted men with no violent past to do such horrific things, but this work adds nothing thoughtful. There is no hint of how a nation heals after suffering atrocities like this. It's merely used as a device to add drama. I think sensitive elements in history can be responsibly represented in fantasy, but instead a team of X-Men wander the country wreaking havoc and our MC cries a lot about her abusive and problematic crush. Fantasy can add enough distance to see history clearly, or ask "what if it had happened differently?" I couldn't find either here. 

It's possible in the sequel the Taiwanese will be more than a red eyed bloodthirsty race used as bargaining chips in battle, the Japanese will have some context as wealthy oppressors, the Chinese will be more than torture porn, and human experiments like Unit 731 will be treated with more gravity than a device for our heroine to understand her boyfriends drug addiction. But I won't be reading to find out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, War, Torture, Sexual assault, Violence, Toxic relationship, Child death, Colonisation, Cursing, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Incest, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Addiction, Death, Genocide, Medical trauma, Gore, Racism, and Rape

ashlyn922's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Abortion, Violence, Animal death, Addiction, Self harm, Body horror, War, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Toxic friendship, Torture, Child death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, Genocide, Classism, Infertility, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Gore, Grief, Blood, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Vomit, Abandonment, Slavery, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

cowboylatte's review against another edition

Incredible writing and atmosphere. Will absolutely look into RF Kuang’s other works.. but the gratuitous (and real) violence of chapter 21 was too much for my heart. Incredible, but too much for me right now. Might try again at a later date.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Sexual assault, and War

spookylettuce's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad 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: Drug use, Child death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Classism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Child abuse and Medical content

jaimiew's review against another edition

adventurous 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: Violence, Torture, Racism, Rape, Gore, Addiction, War, Pregnancy, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Body horror, Drug use, and Sexual violence

jaelynm35's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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 loved this book so much. It got me out of months long reading slump. It’s pretty dark, there is talk of genocide, S/A, and lots of death. But it is an excellent story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Murder, Pregnancy, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia

stephsbookedout's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Sexual assault, Classism, Blood, Death, Drug use, Excrement, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, War, Body horror, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Grief, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Vomit

laurenbaggy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Genocide, Murder, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Blood, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Rape, War, Confinement, Sexual assault, Torture, Death, Violence, Child death, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Animal death, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Excrement, Colonisation, Toxic friendship, and Forced institutionalization

tano's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, Torture, Drug use, Violence, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Suicide, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, and Pregnancy