Reviews - The Poppy War | The StoryGraph

48.7k reviews for:

The Poppy War

R.F. Kuang

4.23 AVERAGE

joewhistle's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous dark 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

hexotical's review

3.5

dark 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

paigestock's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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: Yes

araerh's review against another edition

5.0

Such a fascinating plot and exquisite writing for the best adult fantasy debut.The story is about Rin, a young woman who wants to determine her own fate by entering the top military school, mastering magic, and discovering her parents. Beginning then, we’ll follow her journey during her time in school, until she becomes a soldier, and find out about her country's tragic and dark history.
I have no doubt this book was one of my favorites last year because of how amazingly mad it is. I adore r.f.kuang writing, which is immaculately well described, and it captivated me just from the beginning lines to the end. Everything about the story, the world-building, the strong characters, the bond of relationship, the tension, the brutality, the dialogue, the moments, the plot twist, are just perfect. It is so smart to add some culture and historical aspects, which are essential parts of the story.
The plot is cyclical in the first half of the book, but it kicks in after that. Brutally. The way it’s getting so freakin intense and very page turner through the chapters, especially in the fighting parts and I couldn't even stop reading it until it came to the end. There is no need to be concerned that the last few chapters at the end are an absolute banger. To be honest, this book always made me gasp when something unexpected happened. I was shocked and pretty traumatized when I read ‘that’ chapter, and I couldn’t imagine it would be so graphic. Like, how were the events that happened in the book actually inspired by the real darkest moments in Chinese history?!
Overall, this book is not just an ordinary book. It is a dark and cruel book with a lot of heavy discussion, so I recommend it for someone who wants to get into adult fantasy but not as a beginner reader. Also, please check TW before you read, especially for this book. Nevertheless, this book is the combination of my two favorites books which is bumi series and six of crows, also alchemy of souls for the academic part, so without a doubt it’s completely exceeded my high expectations, and I can’t wait to read the next one.

agatapx's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous inspiring 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

seph5040's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

lordmax412's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

At first I thought the book felt very standard YA fictiony, with political and anti-imperial themes. But it quickly gains a lot of depth and is anything but standard. Having read Babel, the writing is equally spectacular. Excited to read the rest of the trilogy.