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imds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War
gigglesigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War
ashlyncherie's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
anxiousshorebird's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book suffered from mismatched tone and some bad pacing. It felt like a YA magic school novel (complete with a Draco Malfoy type character) for way too long. Then by the end it was a grim dark, violent, war torn character study. It felt like an abrupt shift. Looking back, I see some merit to experiencing the MC's journey from determined teenager to hardened soldier along with her. While reading it, however, I found myself wishing her origins were told through intermittent flashbacks.
I really enjoy the world that Juang created. I love that she hasn't shied away from a DEEPLY flawed main character. Frankly, I don't even like this MC. But o sure loved reading her story once I got passed the slog of her schooling.
All in all, it's far from a 5 star read for me, but it's a very commendable debut novel. I won't hesitate to read the rest of the trilogy. I plan to read a light romance before the next Poppy War book though, because this shit got DARK.
Speaking of, please check the content warnings. Since the beginning is so much more tame than the rest, it's worth the risk of spoiling yourself a bit to make sure you know what you're getting into. I recommend skipping chapter 21 if you're someone who can take a lot, but have a limit.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Self harm, Excrement, and Pregnancy
Minor: Racism, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
mollyjoy__'s review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Chapter 21 of this book is especially hard to read and details recollections of extremely graphic violence towards women and sexual assault.evermoresversion's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
i <u>really</u> wanted to love this like everyone else, and give it 5 stars, yet i’m just unable to.
it stared out extremely promising and i actually really liked the first 100-ish pages, but after she left the Academy it just completely lost me.
the last 150 pages were interesting <i>enough</i> that i didn’t feel like i was going to either fall asleep or DNF (also because of the way too long 30-50 page chapters), however, that’s when i really started to get irritated with Rin (the MC) and started not liking her.
my favorite character (or more like the only character i actually liked in the end) was Kitay.
on top of that, i also feel like i didn’t really fully understand the gods and the magic system. it was kind of confusing to me ngl.
the ending… well. iykyk.
overall, i don’t know how to feel, but i do want to continue with the series, as everyone seems to love it and cry by the end (and because i, as usual, bought all the books before reading the first one).
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Self harm, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Addiction
samanthamohun's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, and War
thehannahclaire's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Self harm, Vomit, and Classism
tchtokyo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Colonisation
beanformation's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Murder, and Sexual harassment