Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

746 reviews

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is one of the best books I have ever read. From the beginning to the very end I was enraptured in the story. It is compelling, emotional, and tough to read at times. Highly recommend, be ready for a lot of blood and war.

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I love this author and will read every book she ever writes. That being said, it has taken my 4 months to leave a review for this book and it took me 2+ years to read it due to the content I knew it contained. It’s so dark and so deep, and absolutely worth reading. Knowing an entire chapter is almost purely based on historical events is devastating, especially since it’s not something we learned in school when it absolutely should have been. 

Beautiful writing, excellent characters, great story, not for the faint of heart.

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adventurous dark sad medium-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: No

 I liked this book but it got too sadistic and disgusting for me. I won’t be reading the rest of the trilogy. 

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Don't really feel comfortable giving this one a star rating, considering the subject matter and the fact that it's based off real life war crimes. That said, RF Kuang's writing is engaging and I definitely want to read the rest of the trilogy.

That said, PEOPLE WERE NOT JOKING ABOUT CHAPTER 21. Really all of part three is one major potential trigger after another, but chapter 21 contains the worst of it. PLEASE heed the content warnings for this book if you're considering it. I had to skim over chunks of it personally.

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adventurous dark sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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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: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

it’s a great story but it’s not perfect. in the second part Rin was so childish and out of place and she knew that but there were no repercussions which made no sense, and at the end there are some things that didn’t feel like they made sense or clicked in the right way. some scenes were terribly heartbreaking. would recommend and will be reading the best one right away. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional 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

This was so much more brutal than I had anticipated. I knew going on that it was loosely based around some historical wars, but did not realize that it was the Nanjing Massacre. Knowing that and also having read Sword of Kaigen by ML Wang, I thought I knew what to expect in terms of the violence, war, fighting, descriptions and depictions of abuse, torture, rape etc., but this was so much worse than what I anticipated. Parts 1 & 2 were pretty good, I thought that Rin was very well written and the surrounding characters were great. Rin is in her teens and she acts like it. She makes decisions without thinking all the way through, she reacts fast and strongly, but she's still a great character, even if sometimes you hate her/he decisions. 

I knew going into chapter 21 (beginning of part three) that it was going to be brutal, but it was so so much worse than I anticipated, and honestly really overshadowed the rest of the book for me. Yes, I think it was all written incredibly well, and RFK is an incredible author, and it was necessary to the story. But it was still just... a lot. I don't think any of this was trauma porn, but it was so much more brutal than I thought it would be. I thought based on reviews I'd seen from people I trust, and from my love for SoK that this would be a for sure 5 star, or maybe like a 4.5, but after part three it's closer to a 3/3.5I may change my rating at some point, but for now that's where I landed.

If you are someone who enjoys war fantasies and you're aware of the trigger/content warnings, I think this can be a fantastic book. Like I said, it was incredibly well written and didn't feel like the violence was just being depicted for the sake of violence. At this moment I'm not sure I'll continue with the series, but I do think that despite my hesitancy and lack of love for this in the end, RFK is an excellent writer and I'm glad I experienced that regardless of my final thoughts.

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