Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

366 reviews

aeons_v_atlas's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, War

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Racism, Sexism, Murder, Colonisation, Classism

Minor: Slavery

irodori_megu's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Infertility, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content

allisonmspiers's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Colonisation

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism

Forced marriage, human experimentation, massacres, menstruation,

leighann13's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

moonystar's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, Classism

Minor: Child death

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

Loveable characters: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

carmenghia's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I am conflicted. I want to praise this - especially because the history that inspired this has all of the components that are great inspiration for a bloody, morally conflicting high fantasy. Then add in the martial arts and the vengeful gods, the mentor of questionable methods, and the complex relationships. A great formula! But everything didn't click into place... there are a lot of actions that don't seem to fit the characters, there are unearned relationships, there's pacing issues... I wanted to love it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, War

kat1105's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty

Minor: Pregnancy

hailsatan's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation

maricasement's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I'd heard great things about The Poppy War in the high fantasy bubble of booktube, so I was excited to read it. It is a story that takes place in a fantastical China, in a period in between wars. Our main character, Rin, is a war orphan and she has grown up working for opium smugglers in a little town. When she discovers that she is going to be sold into marriage, she decides to try and get in to the most prestigious military academy in the country so that she can run away from this fate. You can probably already tell from that description, but please check the content warning for this if you want o read it, it does get quite heavy and graphic at times.
I won't get into many detail, but I thought it was only ok at the beginning. Rin was someone I could sympathise with, but her temperament and attitude were hard for me to connect with. Because of this, some of her choices frustrated me immensely. Unfortunately, this just got worse as I approached the end of Part 1 and started Part 2, and I decided to stop reading the book for a while. After I had let it stew in my mind, I finally got back to it, and my goodness did it pay off!
Some of the discussions and themes at the start of the book were very good and set some of the scene for the rest of the book, but they truly hit hard as the book progressed. (Spoilers ahead, maybe?) Lots of the themes relate to

how we see other humans and how that influences how we treat them (basically what leads people to kill and commit genocide), what pain and suffering makes people do, what war can do to people, fate and free will and how present choices affect the future

. What I thought was particularly interesting was how Kuang explored these themes from the perspective of different character's and leaves it up o the reader to decide who we think is right. She has the characters discuss these things and you can see Rin's and other character's opinions change and develop. As this happens and we accompany the characters' journeys, our thoughts change and Kuang makes this natural thing explicit on the page.
The end of the book is a culmination of all these themes and it is devastating, but you can't help wanting more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Medical content, Classism