Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Опиумная война by R.F. Kuang

885 reviews

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I did not much like The Poppy War, it was way too bleak and depressing, focusing a lot on how our protag becomes 
dependent on fantasy narcotics
  to fuel their magic. I've read many dark stories over the decades, but this just wasn't cutting it for me. Add an abusive mentor to the mix and it starts feeling extremely oppressive and disheartening to read. 
I did manage to finish the book, but I don't think I will be continuing the series.

RF Kuang though, has improved significantly in her later books so if you like Poppy War do check those out!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark sad 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: Yes

i love altan i dont care 

anyway great book! a little slow to start, but once i got into it, i didnt want to put it down anymore. the narration is a little repetitive sometimes, very insistent to make a point, so you like it or you don’t. dialogues kind of sounded unnatural too, not very often but it did throw me off the few times i noticed it.

all my other points are positive, though! rin is a great mc, so deeply flawed and difficult to like, and she treads through the story in a way that’s quite captivating and horrifying, like a car crash or a catastrophe. her supporting cast has depth too, at least as far as rin herself is able and willing to comprehend, and it’s clear they all have their own stories and motives. the plot is VERY interesting, and the worldbuilding is extremely well done. i think the book achieves exactly what it was meant to. i really enjoyed it.

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

Wow, just wow….. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional funny slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was a roller-coaster. I went in blind and was lulled into a false sense of security by the "underdog country bumpkin in a posh academy" plotline (which I loved, by the way). Then we got to the war part of The Poppy War.

It wasn't so much a tonal shift as a natural progression. Looking back, I can see how
Rin always had it in her to be who she becomes.


I was a bit frustrated with the characters at the end but the last few pages brought me around, and now I'm excited to see where this goes.

My biggest annoyance with the book is how
they showed us the Empress being a traitor halfway into the story.
Seeing the characters learn something that we, the readers, knew for ages felt very anticlimactic. Which made the whole culmination of the book very boring. Like I said, the last few pages is what ultimately elevated the book from 4.25 to 5 stars (entirely based on vibes, mind you).

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark reflective 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

I felt that the bit in school could've been an entire book in itself, and because it wasn't, it felt rather rushed.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous 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

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Incredible book. Kuang is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. There are a lot of really hard questions in this that lead to really incredible dialogue. Rin is such a fascinating character to follow and I'm going to find out where this goes.

It's real in your mind. That's as real as anything gets.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings