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Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, War
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Animal cruelty
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Excrement
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War
Minor: Self harm
i want to give the poppy war 5 stars, but i don't think it's without flaws. i think some things could have been done better later on in it and the lack of sufficient paratext about the very real historical background is the biggest one. i think the jarring shift from the pre-war to war periods worked very well at shattering the suspended sense of peace and finding humor in darkness then elevating the stakes of "petty" schoolyard spats and theoretical military conflicts to the unimaginably evil and horrific realities of war. i think rin is naive at times, which can come off as annoying and frustrating in the larger, horrific scheme of things, but that's a crucial part of the bildungsroman, baby, especially given the context of what she witnesses, learns, and experiences when confronting the horrors of the world up close and personal.
i think the fact that r.f. kuang doesn't include a note from the author or some other sort of acknowledgement on historical context is confusing coming out the other side and really irks me as a reader. (part of me is like oh, is it her responsibility to inform us of it, but she literally wrote the damn book. it feels almost icky, especially then seeing people romanticize some parts of the book.) i think the lines between fantasy and historical fiction felt blurred at times and affected the writing in subtle ways, perhaps treading the line of factual source material. i don't want to have to assume the intentionality or rationale of her decision to fictionalize the surrounding context and not address it, because that's not something i want to have to guess at. (did she worry it would make the fictional plot "too heavy" or somehow not immersive and believable enough? but how do you then draw on real horrors for the sake of entertainment?) of course, i'm "glad" to have been spurred to learn more about the real background (the nanjing massacre and the second sino-japanese war at large) that parts of the poppy war were "loosely" based on. like at least it prompts these sorts of discussions, that alone is obviously important, but surely there are people that don't pick up on it or find out? idk.
i think the ending is pretty strong, although there's at least one explicitly fictional plot point i'm fully refusing to believe is real and will just not be accepting. also, i think it's super weird that prior to reading this i'd seen tiktoks about how fang runin can do no wrong; that all makes me feel a little crazy now knowing the things she does by the book's end.
i'm heartbroken for so many of the characters. i think everyone deserved better, except the people who didn't. but i think how people draw the line to make that distinction is one of the main points of the book. what differs martyrdom in an effort toward emancipation and vengeance, an eye for the eye for the sake of it? who is to blame for a sequence of horrifically violent events if many people could have potentially altered the course of history? when is a war won or lost? how much blood is enough? can it ever be enough?
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Blood, Colonisation
Moderate: Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, War
Minor: Confinement, Sexual violence
would i recommend? if you want to get your soul wrecked answer is yes. if you want to smile again, my answer is no.(the amount of tw:s I listed feel inadequate. THAT should tell you something).
anyway, going to go read more about rin becoming a crazy vengeful god or imagine she is one
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Infertility, Alcohol
5/5
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Racism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Colonisation
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide, Kidnapping, Abortion, Abandonment, Classism
Minor: Infertility, Pregnancy
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Classism