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totallyshelfaware's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Murder
hanarama's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Powerful and natural character development.
Strong world building.
Lots of action.
The Bad:
Skips around a bit, some telling rather than showing.
Little chance to relax between emotional highs and lows.
You'll Like This Book If:
You like Daenerys' story in A Song of Ice and Fire.
If you like morally gray characters.
Stories about the horrors of war and the dangers of power.
The final book of the Poppy War trilogy is one emotional gut-punch after the next. Having broken away from the Republic, Rin is building up forces of her own and she is willing to do anything and everything to win this war for herself and the people of Nikan.
Through all of this she struggles against the allure of the Phoenix and its power. If she gives herself over to it, she will become a goddess of war and retribution, but she will lose humanity in the process. At times it is only Kitay keeping her anchored. With the war against the Republic and Hesperians dragging on and the number of betrayals increasing, Rin's sanity is fraying and it seems only a matter of time before she is lost to the Phoenix.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Murder
redthistle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
All of the characters developed in ways I had hoped and looked for in the other two books. If you liked the first two I highly recommend finishing the series with this one.
The end absolutely devastated me but in the best way possible. The writing was stunningly beautiful and I am in awe.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder
olivialandryxo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Representation
- amputee protagonist of color
- side characters of color
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Cannibalism, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Ableism, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Slavery, and Trafficking
starryeyedenigma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I couldnt have thought of a better ending, but oh my gosh, my heart was torn by the time I reached the end. This trilogy and the finale was the best history lesson I've read in my life and that's saying something, since history isnt my favorite subject.
I loved how the author has merged so many genres and themes into this epic fantasy trilogy - history, politics, war, self abuse, dealing with mental health, fantasy, science fiction, theology, racism - you get the drill.
A series that is highly recommended, even for people who dont read fantasies - but just with a trigger warning that you should have the stomach to digest some of the content in the book. This series deserves all the awards it is being nominated for. Loved it
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Racism, and Violence
podanotherjessi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Characters: 10
Plot: 7
Setting: 10
General appeal: 9
Writing style: 7
Originality: 9
Ending: 10
Spoiler free, Poppy War series review: https://youtu.be/H0xdme4atzo
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Cannibalism
fearsparks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Rin is now fighting for the south, for the dark skinned people like her. But this fight is nothing like the strategic war and planned battles she knows. No, this is entirely new. And Rin fights to be in charge.
The twists and turns of this book! They were unpredictable and some came out of nowhere. And the ending, it is not what I expected. There were also a lot going on in this book, I found myself having to rewind the audiobook several times because I had missed information. This doesn’t bother me, but it is very dense.
There are a few things in this book that I don’t understand. It gave me more questions than answers, and I feel a bit unsatisfied having finished this series. I still love it, but I feel like I needed more answers.
I usually have a hard time anticipating what would come next, and usually can’t say whether a decision is out of character or not. So I may be totally wrong here. But some decisions made of the bigger characters felt a bit out of character.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Moderate: Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Xenophobia, and Blood
marina_dee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
“This was chaos, but chaos was were she thrived. A world at peace, at stalemate, at cease-fire, had no use for her. She understood now what she needed to do to cling to power: submerge the world in chaos, and forge her authority from the broken pieces.”
Look, this was my most anticipated book of all time, and I know it seems like a disappointing rating for the end of what has been my favourite fantasy series recently (the only fantasy series, I might add), and I am a bit disappointed, I guess, but I also want to point out that it might be more enjoyable on the second read, when I know where things are going and how it all adds up.
I've read a couple of reviews to get a sense of what people thought and most of the negative reviews focus on the unlikeable characters, how everyone was insufferable etc... That wasn't my issue at all. Did it bother me that every character was a terrible person, that my beloved faves were being terribly cruel and committing atrocities, that Rin was completely insane and turned into the villain I expected her to become from the end of the first book? Yeah, I guess, but only as far as a regular person with a moral compass should feel bothered by such things. As long as it's only on the page, it was incredible and everything I ever wanted from that series.
I never expected a happy ending. The story Kuang had set out to write couldn't end happily, it would have cheapened it. I was prepared to see every character suffer.
What I appreciated less, and that I might be better prepared for in a reread, is the constant loyalty and alliance push-and-pull, the core of my problem being that Rin is being dragged to causes that she fundamentally doesn't believe in, when I know she doesn't care about ideologies, she doesn't care about the people, about the south, she doesn't care about ruling. She's just animated by her personal hatred, by her desire for vengeance, by her need to set the justice she estimates is fair, and to see her pretend otherwise is purely a waste of time. She ultimately does realize that she just can't set the whole world on fire just to find inner peace, but it doesn't erase the frustration all this pretence has brought me over the course of the last 600 pages.
But I do appreciate what Kuang set out to do. Seeing Rin descent into lunacy, into tyranny, all the while suppressing all the things that make her human, letting the Phoenix take over more and more, justifying its reasoning etc... is not something a lot of authors would do. In the end, I hate Rin as much as I love her, and the tragedy of her story is what will be stuck in my mind.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder
samusc's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, and Murder
goldengirlbookclub's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Murder