Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

949 reviews

makmammalattack's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It’s incredible to read a book that appeals to YA fans but hits much deeper. Kuang doesn’t shy away from describing hardships, trauma, and the horrors of war which is both devastating and refreshing as a fantasy reader. Rin is a character that even by the end, I don’t know if I like. I don’t know how much she’s grown as a person and I don’t agree with many of her decisions but it’s so exciting to read from a character perspective that isn’t some perfect heroin with a clean and palatable character arc. The Poppy War feels like it’s about people not just characters. Kuang’s nuance in balancing caricatures versus the characters we get to know brings a spotlight to the power of propaganda and racism in a way that feels obvious but never heavy handed or dumbed down.

Not definitive spoilers, but Kuang also manages to lay the perfect web of foreshadowing and smoking guns throughout the book. It felt like a spy film - the agent gets a cool gadget, the bad guy talks about his evil plan, the love interest mentions some event and suddenly you know how act 3 plays out. And just like a spy movie, it’s so exciting. It’s the buildup on a rollercoaster. You know what’s coming but it’s so fun to feel the build up and get to the part where it all comes together. The few moments that I would call “plot twists” felt so right, like I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized it sooner. The story feels focused but still educates you on a long geopolitical history without ever feeling like it’s useless lore dumps. 

So glad the second book is already published. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

smurphiavelli's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Infertility, Slavery, Torture, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Grief

mathildereads5's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

jsmulan96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

celah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

julianfromme's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

ALTAN TRENGSIN I MISS YOUUUU I MISS YOU COME BACK TO ME PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PL

more detailed review forthcoming, probably 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Genocide, Racism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, and Kidnapping

pages_in_the_dark's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

headbangerhijabi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Seriously, pay attention to the triggers, if you are not in the right headspace for this content don't read this book

jcole049's review against another edition

0.25

I enjoyed this book until the graphic descriptions of war. If you have read this book, you know the descriptions I am referring to. I had nightmares—the same that plagued me after my Japanese history class. Some things are too far, and I cannot think of a reason to rewrite very real war crimes in a fictional book. You can get emotion without that level of detail. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

emmak2121's review against another edition

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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism