You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

170 reviews

noosh_pdf's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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

When they say this book is dark, they mean it. Do not be fooled by the beginning chapters of this book that feign hopeful stories of aspiring soldiers. The darkness of this book has subjected itself to one specific chapter, chapter 21. There are gruesome, cruel, horrifying depictions of war crimes. Nothing will prepare you for it. Read trigger warnings. Please.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

haleymk's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny tense slow-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

5.0

I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL I READ THE NEXT ONE

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

winterwoodbooks's review

Go to review page

dark emotional tense
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The beginning and end were really strong, however the middle part felt a bit like a disjointed slump.
Whlile I always want to give the benefit of believing that maybe that was just how the character felt, this does not seem to be the case here.
The Fact, that there were mere chapters between the setup of the facility and arriving there annoyed me SO much. And then they were out again just as fast, ugh

One of the strongest parts of this book is the bluntness of talking about themes- as well as just vivid and brutal pictures, actually depicturing horrors and topics often glossed over. I have to mention the feminism here, loved everything about it!
Overall a great book with some annoying points, I am interested to see more and hope for an in depth journey of the mind of our main character!
The worst part were the animal deaths tho :c



Expand filter menu Content Warnings

alyce_ery's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.75

do not underestimate the trigger warnings and age limit 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bekahzabel's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

I have unlocked new levels of love and pain.

The Poppy War was on a completely different plane than most books I’ve read this year, in a good way. This was a heart wrenching literary masterpiece to me. A 6 star book. Military fantasy meets magic & the spiritual realm. Not sure I can put into words how much I loved this entire storyline, but I am BROKEN. 

Imma have to give myself a break in between to heal before I start Dragon Republic because my world just got ROCKED. If you heard this was good they lied, it’s great. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

yayokay's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark informative medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

okay, first off, the writing was incredible and the plot was great, but it was a bit questionable.

like, when the author went on for 200 pages about the academy and rin's life there and then 30 pages later a new set of characters is introduced with little to no knowledge about them?? and also, in terms of East Asian history, i've heard mixed opinions.
like, the depiction of the speerlys (or taiwanese people) being considered evil and inhuman, and the author even reinforcing these stereotypes with the main character
when it's revealed that she's a speerly?
like what?
and the rape of Nanjing being used as a gotcha! moment to further enhance the plot, and in the end when rin SUFFOCATES the people of mugen (japan) in the name of revenge for the genocide of Speer??

anyways, if this book wasn't based on the sino-japanese wars and was purely fictional, or was just chinese inspired, it could've been something great. i don't understand claiming the book as "more than fantasy" bc it references modern chinese history when you've changed the names of the nations, added a fanciful element that contradicts the history, and have watered down a few historical events. 


 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

dennyiii's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark informative reflective 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

4.0

sudden tone change in the book may not suit everyone, it also gets very graphic so CHECK THE TRIGGER WARNINGS!!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

marinasjd's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

cowboylikestoread43's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jessicaludden's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

“War doesn’t determine who’s right. War determines who remains.”

Oh this was insane. I feel like I’ve lived so many lives with Rin in one book. This book destroyed the idea of destiny in favor of this idea that we make decisions that lead us to where we are and Rin embraces that entirely. It starts with Rin’s coming of age and as the story progresses it turns into her loss of innocence. I loved the war and politics in this combined with elements of shamanism and divine entities. It kept me on the edge of my seat and surprised me in many ways. It’s also interesting to see the power dynamics in different relationships within this story and how they impact the characters and shift as time goes on. Overall, I will be thinking about this for a while and I’m excited for the next one.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings