Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

49 reviews

bethiboo's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Genocide, Slavery, Death, Rape, War, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Infertility, Gore, Grief, Murder, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Colonisation

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

this was an experience i struggle to put into words. this book was so eloquently written with abundant imagery, character development, and history. the amount of world building was intense but so rich. it felt as though it was a place i had moved to and was slowly discovering it myself. the characters were bursting with personality. while this book isn’t necessarily “enjoyable” (because of the incredibly devastating subject matter), it was was such an amazing reading experience and i really want to continue with the series! 

****check trigger warnings****

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child death, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Gore, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Addiction, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, War, Animal death, Drug abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

sofipitch's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

This book came highly recommended by a couple of ppl and I feel like I should have checked what other places said the genres were not just storygraph bc I don't like high fantasy, grimdark, and young adult, and that's precisely what this was. This book was insanely predictable to a fault, I figured out all the "twists" and major plot points before they happened not bc they were well set up but bc it is like the most common and overdone direction to go in. One of the most grating things to me is how we have this historical setting yet the way the characters talk is PAINFULLY 21st century. I feel like there is zero immersion into the historical aspect other than "this is what high fantasy has to be, set before the industrial revolution". The writing was also meh, plain. The book starts off in the magic school genre and then switches to the war genre. But nothing bad ever happens to Rin, all the trauma porn happens to other characters and is recounted to her in horrifying detail which makes no sense bc literally who talks like that. The politics of this book is incredibly black and white, the ending is just ugh, I don't feel like Rin is justified in her support of Nikan, she doesn't seem to care for her country so much as like have blind patriotism. Especially when there are aspects that reveal Nikan is not perfect. You'd think that would have been taken into consideration with how she deals with the enemy at the end but nope. Rin is just totally in love with her country and will kill any number of civilians to defend it bc ????? In general Rin doesn't seem to have a full fleshed characterization/personality other than feeling like the natural attempt to copy cat the YA dustopian female lead. In general that's what this book feels like, like it came out 5-10 years back during the high of the Hunger Games and Harry Potter (the magic school first half) and everything that tried to copy it. Anyways, can you tell I didn't like this? I didn't like it. I expected something better and especially seeing the degrees and schools the author went to I expected something more nuanced and creative but this wasn't it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Sexual violence, Confinement, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Medical trauma, Rape, Torture, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Classism, Violence, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Animal death, and Kidnapping

sacredgayometry's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Beautifully written and culturally expansive- the world building and magic system are fascinating. There are some very dark and upsetting moments that feel difficult to read, but the overall result is a great read with incredibly complex characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Rape, Infertility, Gore, Violence, War, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Ableism, Animal death, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexism, Bullying, and Forced institutionalization

If you have trauma related especially to heroin or opioids, they are often mentioned and abused and this may not be the book for you. There is also heavy allegory to the conflicts in China and Japan surrounding opium and colonization and the wars that have occurred especially during feudal periods. I found it reminiscent of the Vietnam war and World War II. War crimes are a heavy theme. Very well written but can be a very difficult read.

being_stupid's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

Why didn't I read the trigger warning. Read the trigger warning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Addiction, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, War, Animal cruelty, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, and Child death

Minor: Alcohol and Child death

racheldelaney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

NYPL #43 god DAMN do I love me an excellent corruption arc. I am immensely sad and yet feel a boundless excitement to pick up Dragon Republic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Colonisation, Addiction, War, Violence, Torture, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Genocide, Drug use, Body horror, Blood, and Animal death

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, and Vomit

Minor: Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Xenophobia, and Medical content

reddeddy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Xenophobia, Addiction, Grief, Infertility, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, Abandonment, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Excrement, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Trafficking, Abortion, Classism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, and Self harm

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Police brutality, and Pedophilia

singalana's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Vomit, War, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Child death, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Violence, Addiction, Death, Grief, Hate crime, and Rape

Moderate: Kidnapping, Medical content, Xenophobia, Infertility, Pregnancy, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Abandonment, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

sarah_cameron's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

This book has amazing world building and the cast of characters are all extremely well depicted, both complex and clearly motivated
On the whole the content of the book, despite the war-setting, is pretty digestible, but when it’s graphic it’s GRAPHIC so ready the trigger warnings, especially for later in the book, and look after yourself!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, War, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Genocide, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Racism, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, and Domestic abuse

miss_sunshine's review against another edition

dark emotional relaxing tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Sexual violence, Stalking, War, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Gore, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Death of parent, Abortion, Infertility, Emotional abuse, and Excrement