Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Опиумная война by R.F. Kuang

2266 reviews

jen_follis's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-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: Yes

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I absolutely loved parts of this book and struggled with some others. Rin was a complicated character, but you still wanted to root for her even when she was making poor decisions. The hardest part to read was the destruction of Golyn Noise with the horrific atrocities committed by the Mugenese soldiers. I found out after finishing the book that that part was inspired by the Nanjing massacre which makes it even more horrific. 

Overall enjoyed this book, but I'm not sure if I'll finish the trilogy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Torture, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Grief

Minor: Infertility

cadence99's review against another edition

3.75

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I find myself struggling to articulate what exactly didn’t work for me with The Poppy War. I think having read R.F. Kuangs other works (Babel and Yellowface) first didn’t help my feelings. It’s certainly a younger, less settled work when compared to the others (which makes sense, she was young!). I also think, having read a lot of fantasy in the last few years, her style of walking readers very explicitly through certain themes feels a bit heavy handed- I’m at a point in my reading journey where I prefer a more hands off approach, giving more space for readers to navigate themes independently. Not to say that there isn’t value in both, but I might just not be the ideal audience for the style at this moment, and because of that, I don’t think I’ll be finishing the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

b_rush's review against another edition

1.0

slow-paced

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Bad. Just bad. Such an interesting idea yet turned into the most unwieldy story that never not once had me actually invested in its characters. Also I cannot overstate enough please proceed with caution as there are very brutal descriptions of torture, SA, abuse and violence.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

midnightshadows1's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

noxtem's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, War

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Infertility, Mental illness, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

hdiwwo's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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You have to different kind of psychopath to read this book and only thing you take away is that it’s “strong female protagonist” and “enemies to lovers” looking at you booktok. For the love of fuck read trigger warnings before you read this this isn’t children's or light-hearted book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Abortion, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

mhh1102's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

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An absolutely beautiful, positively brutal read. This author does not hold back from describing the pain and horrors of war and creates a dynamic, compelling, morally complex character. A fantastic story. It was a bit long and definitely could be overwhelming for some readers, but it's incredibly well-done

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, Classism

Minor: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, War

Assault is never experienced by the main character but is described vividly. Descriptions of violence are meant to be brutal.

ebbi_blobblob's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional sad 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

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My mind is blown 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation

mostlykenny's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Absolutely brilliant. R.F. Kuang is becoming my new favorite author. A dark, tense fantasy with complex characters, political themes and world-building that will leave you all over the place but still very intriguing as you read. Do check Triggers warning before reading but it’s definitely worth to look into this story. It’s rich atmosphere, high stakes and difficult journey that the characters face. Also, just a bonus in my opinion, FMC 🫶🏽
But definitely pick this up !! ⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, War

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Hate crime, Slavery, Torture, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Minor: Fatphobia, Infertility, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping

Rip Alten :( R.F. Kuang how could you DO this to meee

laneyjane4's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, War

Moderate: Abandonment