Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Опиумная война by R.F. Kuang

1133 reviews

whitllo's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Slavery, Blood

zsofiaszabo's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark 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: Death, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, War

Moderate: Colonisation

jordanamackey's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous 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

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Fang Runin.. the woman that you are. the epitome of morally grey character. It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that this book is based around actual events in history considering the atrocities that are committed. Definitely a book that you need to check trigger warnings on! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, War, Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing

creatureofearth_345's review against another edition

2.75

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

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

easyintheory's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

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Incredible writing, as I expected after reading Babel. Very dark, but very important subject matter because itʼs all rooted in history. Definitely not a relaxing read, and definitely look up triggers before you read—especially chapter 21.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Colonisation, War

Moderate: Sexual assault

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

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

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