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I will start with my favorite part - the characters and their development. Rin, my beloved! After the ending, I am just so scared for her, proud of her, horrified by her, sorry for her, disappointed in her, and astonished by her. There are LAYERS!
Kitay, my sweetheart - I am sorry.
Altan, my broken boy - I am sorry.
Nezha, my rotten egg - I am sorry.
The world-building feels expansive but not overwhelming. It ended the book feeling I understood the country's regions and the other side's army, but knew the world beyond was different. I think she did a great job with making the world feel real without having to plot out thousands of regions and countries.
While this contained a lot of very difficult content (check trigger warnings; a large chunk of the later chapters are based on the Rape of Nanjing/the Nanjing Massacres), Kuang uses these atrocities in a way that does not feel cheap or like it was inserted merely for shock value. It is disgusting, it is horrible, and it is a genocide to the fullest extent of the word. She does not shy away from the awful and that makes the book better and worse all at the same time. Definitely not the book to read if you're prone to looking away - or maybe it is just what you need. I don't know.
Getting into another great area - the PROSE!!! Kuang can WRITE and the work is full of lines that feel like a gut punch or heartache or exhaustion or all of it at once.
R.F. Kuang should be paying for my therapy, but instead, I am going to pay for more books. Ouch, wow, how dare you, thank you, and I am sorry.
Rin - I miss you already and I know you would miss you too, if you could.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment
This book took me on a rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish. Kuang does an incredible job of weaving together a story where there is no clear division between good and bad, right and wrong, or love and hate.
I’m so glad I got to experience The Poppy War through my first ever buddy read. I don’t think my sanity could have lasted as long as it did otherwise 😅 I will definitely be needing a break before jumping into book 2!
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
They were monsters!" Rin shrieked. "They were not human!"
"Have you ever considered" he said slowly "that that was exactly what they thought of us?
War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who remains.
I know this book heavily draws on real historical events such as the Nanjing Massacre. By 'heavily draws' I mean, it is completely lifted from history and placed in a fantasty element. Therefore, it was very hard for me to reconcile these atrocities with a plot following drug-addled teenagers who made poor decisions. I understand they are meant to symbolise the fighting spirit of those who suffered and their deep resentment of those responsible for war crimes. However, the way this characterisation was portrayed just didn't work with the overall conflicts of the book nor did the real suffering of individuals any justice. I am aware this is not a history book but if you are to directly lift from history, it has to be done with a certain sensitivity and caution.
Aside from this, the pacing was awful and the jump from the slow (and arguably better) Part I to Part II was shocking to say the least. There was no real build up to the war described in Part II and really all the lessons the reader sat through in Part I were just an excuse for worldbuilding info dumping.
All the characters were deeply unlikeable and due to the considerable focus on world building, they felt undeveloped. I found it hard to care for their motives or their reasonings for committing atrocities themselves.
There was some good philosophical commentary but a lot of it was lost on the actual plot. In general, the writing didn't do much for me and I found the the use of phrases like 'tiger's tits' and 'great tortoise' quite juvenile (but that is really a nitpick).
Overall, unfortunately not my favourite. There were some interesting mythological elements and interesting themes (the horrors of war and addiction etc) but nothing else really worked for me. I have no intention to pick up the other books in this trilogy.
Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Violence, Murder, War
Moderate: Drug abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation
Minor: Self harm
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, War
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Colonisation
Minor: Physical abuse, Cannibalism
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, War
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, War
R.F. Kuang's FIRST novel. That is truly unhinged.
This is a story that has fantastical elements of magic, power, and gods, and yet- if I had to describe it to someone I would mention only war. Brute force, weapons like trebuchets and swords, a poor rural country and an invading army.
Well-written, complex and flawed characters, and references to real historical events make this a very devastating but somewhat necessary read.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Colonisation, War