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petalpicker 's review for:
The Poppy War
by R.F. Kuang
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Reads as YA with graphic descriptions of violence, exhausting characters, some fun fantasy concepts, an interesting plot, a heavy historical basis.
It was tiring to watch the protagonist make bad decisions over and again in spite of every warning she received (Ironically she was characterized as very intelligent and strategic in the first third of the book).
As a reader it felt impossible to root for her and hard to empathize with her / her rationale.If I want to watch an idiot destroy the world, I can simply read the news.
The key relationships felt believable in the beginning (Feyrik, Kitay, Jiang) and then got less believable toward the end (Nezha, Altan, Cyke comrades). Especially with Altan - we realize worse and worse things about him, while Rin bafflingly respects and loves him more as these things are revealed. Rin's feelings toward him and the rest of the Cyke had little anchor in any sort of positive interaction or camaraderie. The assumption that shared trauma can fully convey depth to a relationship didn't really pan out, and undermined the clarity of her motivation in the last third of the story.
It was tiring to watch the protagonist make bad decisions over and again in spite of every warning she received (Ironically she was characterized as very intelligent and strategic in the first third of the book).
As a reader it felt impossible to root for her and hard to empathize with her / her rationale.
The key relationships felt believable in the beginning (Feyrik, Kitay, Jiang) and then got less believable toward the end (Nezha, Altan, Cyke comrades). Especially with Altan - we realize worse and worse things about him, while Rin bafflingly respects and loves him more as these things are revealed. Rin's feelings toward him and the rest of the Cyke had little anchor in any sort of positive interaction or camaraderie. The assumption that shared trauma can fully convey depth to a relationship didn't really pan out, and undermined the clarity of her motivation in the last third of the story.