Reviews with content warning for Addiction - Опиумная война

Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Опиумная война by R.F. Kuang

2263 reviews

anauribe's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Phew... this was a long and heavy read for me. Be warned of all the different types of violence, war, and genocide.

It is with no doubt that R.F. Kuang is one of the most talented writers I've seen in some time. Her ability to entrap you with her writing is incredible.

I will say, I feel that the first half of the book is a completely different book from the latter half. The first half felt extremely slow for me, but if you're into academia, young age/finding yourself stories, you'll enjoy it. The latter half, full of armies, war, and genocide, was much darker, but way more fast paced.

I feel conflicted at the end of this book. I really want to continue reading to see what happens later in the series (especially since I heard Book 2 is amazing), but I'm distraught by all the violence we experienced throughout the novel. However, perhaps that is Kuang's goal - to make you uncomfortable and remind you that it is humans, and humans alone, that can cause such horrible things to the world around us. Kitay specifically was our grounding force throughout Book 1, reminding us of what is morally right.

I definitely need a palate cleanser book ASAP!

Content Warnings

katstine's review against another edition

4.5

dark tense fast-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

I'm so torn on what to rate this book. The writing is incredible and fantastically intricate. The world building is very clear and well developed. It is undeniably a *great* book.

However...

There are scenes in this that are *incredibly* graphic and not for the faint of heart... and I might be faint of heart. Especially when I thought about the fact that the atrocities committed by the enemy in this are likely based on what the Japanese army did in WWII (I literally went to the WWII Museum in New Orleans the day after I started this book, so it was fresh in my mind). The writing of those scenes is absolutely effective... but to the point where I had trouble sleeping. So... check your trigger warnings and maybe skip chapter 21 if you have a weak stomach like me.

Also I feel like Rin is a really difficult character to like or root for. Every time she is faced with a decision, it seems like she chooses the wrong option. She somewhat acknowledges this about herself in the end, but... not really? But I do feel like it leaves room for some serious character development throughout the next two books. So that isn't necessarily a complaint because it doesn't seem like the author is necessarily advocating for the choices Rin makes. But it does make the reading experience a little frustrating.

Despite all that, this is truly a fantastic book with an vastly complex world, fascinating characters and a plethora of intriguing ethical dilemmas. I will probably not be able to stop thinking about it for a long time and I will definitely be reading the rest of the series.

Content Warnings

nesi_29's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional 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

Content Warnings

ellasdatter's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

s4pling's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

Content Warnings

anjens's review against another edition

4.0

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

Wow. I read Kuang's Babel first so it's not surprising that the way the book went did go the way it did, but man. It was hard to read at times. Definitely read the content warnings first before this book so you know what you're getting into. It's a sad and emotionally challenging book.

Content Warnings

ivynguyen310's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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: Complicated

Content Warnings

dijae's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I really liked the first half of the novel, strong world building and I also love a good training arc. Towards the latter half it started falling more flat? mmm there didn’t seem to be that much character development and the mc seemed to just circle around the same things(probably the point). The action scenes felt more muddled and I felt myself getting lost while reading . But when it picked back up, it was brutal and just wow. Overall was a good read very invested in the storyline and yeah it just gives everybody gone die. But it’s really interesting to see this story playing out history in a world where humans evoke gods and act through them.

Content Warnings