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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: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Self harm, Slavery, Blood, Classism
Minor: Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy
when i started this book i wasn’t super into it if i’m honest. but i’m telling u— PUSH THRU those first 200 pages. it gets so good.
the stakes are SO FRICKEN high and every choice comes at a cost — and the characters don’t always make the right (or most morally sound) choice. but who am i to say what is immoral ?? they’re so real and flawed and broken and i love them all. <3
on one hand the world/culture/religion are so rich and vibrant (the psychedelics may contribute to this) but on the other hand everything is so dark and grim.
the story is based on chinese history and culture which makes it even more interesting and just adds another layer of complexity that i can’t wait to look deeper into and learn more about.
read this book but be aware that it is not always pretty.
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Animal death, Excrement, Vomit
But this is a VERY heavy read. It deals with intense subject matter in a pretty unrelenting way. Please make sure you’re ready to handle some seriously triggering content before you read it.
For me, the four stages of reading The Poppy War were as follows:
1. Wow damn this is a really good fantasy book with a military academy setting.
2. Oh this is a book about religion and spirituality and power where those things are channeled through drugs.
3. Actually this is a book about genocide.
4. OH SHIT OH FUCK OH MY GOD.
I really only have one critique, which is that the part where Rin gets her period for the first time was executed kind of messily. I get that the arrival of her first period at age seventeen and her reaction to it and general ignorance of the subject was meant to express just how ignorant and malnourished she was in Tikany, but because she still doesn’t care for her body at all when she’s at Sinegard, it didn’t quite land for me as a reader.
Weird period thing notwithstanding, if you want to read a beautifully crafted military fantasy that explores war and genocide and imperialism and loss through one character’s part in all of it, this might be the best one there is.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Self harm
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Infertility, Physical abuse, Self harm, Excrement, Vomit, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Gore, Infertility, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy
Minor: Excrement
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Rape, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Vomit, Trafficking
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping