Review by jinxruby - The Poppy War

jinxruby 's review for:

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

3.75

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

First two parts are great, part 3 gets incredibly violent. Some characters are brought up and then end up being not important and it’s a bit frustrating, like when

Nezha joins back up with her for a few chapters before just dying (presumably) and basically never being brought up again, even though it’s hinted he might be a shaman with healing powers?

and

Kitay at the end (he just yells at her once on the boat and then disappears??)

. I’m sure this is addressed in the sequel but it made the character development for any character that wasn’t Rin feel weak. Rin is an excellent protagonist though with very real flaws and traumas.

Content Warnings