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daumari 's review for:
The Poppy War
by R.F. Kuang
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Does not shy away from its inspiration
I can't imagine going into this blind and being sucker punched by the fictionalized atrocities of the Asian world in the early 20th century. It's a tonal shift immediately from the magical school first half, and presented close to reality. The difference lies in the means to revenge which makes you question retaliatory actions and the collateral damage of considering humans as non people.I haven't yet read The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, and it's another reminder I should at some point... I have relatives who held grudges against Japan until the end of their days because of the violence and war crimes . [general meta series spoiler from osmosis] I'm also aware that Rin is "what if Mao Zedong was a teenage girl" so I'm curious about seeing her develop over the trilogy- she's sympathetic, but she is Not a Good Person from the final chapters (general wwii yes, dropping bombs on a civilian population can end a war, but is that worth the cost? what is the worth of an innocent? reading this after seeing Lindsay Ellis's new video essay on the sin of empathy also has me thinking about the vulgarity of numbers).
A stunning debut, and I'm curious how her other works are since they're SO different and essentially writing snapshots of who she is at different points of her life (there was a profile of her in the New Yorker recently that you can read here.
Also- interestingly, the copyright page mentions an excerpt of The Dragon Republic, but because I was reading a Kindle digital copy in app, the excerpt was actually for Katabasis which JUST came out, so that's an interesting thing with digital copies and "updating" because I bought this in 2020.
I can't imagine going into this blind and being sucker punched by the fictionalized atrocities of the Asian world in the early 20th century. It's a tonal shift immediately from the magical school first half, and presented close to reality. The difference lies in the means to revenge which makes you question retaliatory actions and the collateral damage of considering humans as non people.
A stunning debut, and I'm curious how her other works are since they're SO different and essentially writing snapshots of who she is at different points of her life (there was a profile of her in the New Yorker recently that you can read here.
Also- interestingly, the copyright page mentions an excerpt of The Dragon Republic, but because I was reading a Kindle digital copy in app, the excerpt was actually for Katabasis which JUST came out, so that's an interesting thing with digital copies and "updating" because I bought this in 2020.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, War
Moderate: Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Rape