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A review by emme
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- 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
There’s this saying that goes around that goes something like - “you know when there’s a map at the beginning of a book, it’s going be an amazing book.” This was definitely true for The Poppy War.
The Poppy War is a wartime fantasy novel, highly inspired by the Second Sino-Japanese war and Chinese history, and filled with themes of empires, drugs (trade, politics, and addiction), philosophy, gods, misogyny, discrimination, and power. It’s divided into 3 parts, starting off with our MC, Rin, who goes from a poor 16-year-old war orphan to an elite military academy student, navigating her place a new world with wealthy classmates. Parts II and III take a dramatic (yet remarkably smooth) shift, focusing on the pain and impacts of war. Although the book was on the longer side (~500 pages), the story was brilliantly paced, with a balance between emotion, struggle, wisdom, and action.
As a reader I’m also a sucker for amazing characters, and Rin is one of my favorite female heroines so far. She’s highly developed, has to make tough (and sometimes wrong) choices, and Kuang did an amazing job of truly making me feel for Rin throughout her development. The supporting characters are also amazing, and offer so much wisdom, friendship, rivalry, growth, and more (all this to say - there were so many highlightable quotes, characters that had me rooting for them, and a fair share of much needed comedic relief).
I won’t even go into how thorough the world building is but AGH it’s so good. There’s definitely more I’d want to unpack and investigate since Kuang drew upon a lot of Chinese Zodiac and mythological God references.
Also, R. F. Kuang published this book when she was only 22??? An icon.
Truly a 5 star book, already going to B&N to buy the rest of the trilogy today, and I recommend but definitely check out the trigger warnings before reading (some TWs: genocide, gruesome battle and fighting scenes, r@pe, death, abuse, and addiction)
The Poppy War is a wartime fantasy novel, highly inspired by the Second Sino-Japanese war and Chinese history, and filled with themes of empires, drugs (trade, politics, and addiction), philosophy, gods, misogyny, discrimination, and power. It’s divided into 3 parts, starting off with our MC, Rin, who goes from a poor 16-year-old war orphan to an elite military academy student, navigating her place a new world with wealthy classmates. Parts II and III take a dramatic (yet remarkably smooth) shift, focusing on the pain and impacts of war. Although the book was on the longer side (~500 pages), the story was brilliantly paced, with a balance between emotion, struggle, wisdom, and action.
As a reader I’m also a sucker for amazing characters, and Rin is one of my favorite female heroines so far. She’s highly developed, has to make tough (and sometimes wrong) choices, and Kuang did an amazing job of truly making me feel for Rin throughout her development. The supporting characters are also amazing, and offer so much wisdom, friendship, rivalry, growth, and more (all this to say - there were so many highlightable quotes, characters that had me rooting for them, and a fair share of much needed comedic relief).
I won’t even go into how thorough the world building is but AGH it’s so good. There’s definitely more I’d want to unpack and investigate since Kuang drew upon a lot of Chinese Zodiac and mythological God references.
Also, R. F. Kuang published this book when she was only 22??? An icon.
Truly a 5 star book, already going to B&N to buy the rest of the trilogy today, and I recommend but definitely check out the trigger warnings before reading (some TWs: genocide, gruesome battle and fighting scenes, r@pe, death, abuse, and addiction)