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Felt like the worldbuilding was just straight up bad, but it had some good ideas (mostly the way the pantheon was handled), so it wasn't a total wash.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
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!
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
the writing, like the story, was done w/ military precision: no needless prose but impactful all the same, w/ kuang wholly embracing the show-not-tell mantra. perhaps benefiting from its parallels w/ chinese history, the worldbuilding is rich and steeped in culture, beliefs, and lore, and i particularly liked the almost dizzying array of myths, gods and legends, as well as its critique of the west.
the book's jam packed w/ events, and it was a lil dreadful to see rin go from a shopgirl to a full-fledged soldier in a brutal war, entangled w/ gods, tho many of the plot points were predictable (jiang, empress, tearza, for example). the vast array of characters were a delight, whether from sinegard or the cike, and it was gripping to delve deep into many of them (esp altan, very complex, tragic, vengeful altan..). i also liked how there's a price to the magic in nikara, as it rly raised the stakes, tho i wish there were more detailed explanation for why rin shouldnt wield it.
and ofc, the blood-soaked brutality and savagery of war in this book shouldnt go unnoted. it was of a horrible, horrific scale, made even more sickening by the fact that they actually happened, they were fact-based. and i certainly couldnt help reflect on the legacy of their real life counterpart, and how it all still plays out in chinese geopolitics and conflicts today. also still cant get over the fact that kuang's basically the same age and she wrote this in college like wtf am i doing w/ my life...the poppy war wasnt a perfect book but it was one that made me feel a lot of things, and that rly rly counts for sth.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Classism
Minor: Child death
The wrinting is amazing, beautifull and detailed, the world is well built and the story gets progressively more violent/tragic as the book goes on. It is an absolutely amazing read with some very complicated characters and situations. Mainly (of course) focused on war and its effects on the general population, the rulers and our main character. I was recommended this book and went in completely blind (without even reading the description) and it made it very exciting and gut wrenching, BUT if you are easily triggered by violent content please be aware of the TWs, this book has some VERY explicit violence, and even though I loved it, has some very difficult and heavy parts to "get through" thanks to that.
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War
Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Grief
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Infertility, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Alcohol
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Grief, Colonisation, Classism
Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Alcohol