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kellyd 's review for:
The Poppy War
by R.F. Kuang
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
SPOILERS AHEAD
Such a shame. A Chinese-inspired military fantasy had so much potential. Where was the editor on this? It very clearly needed another major rewrite.
Sexism exists only when it's convenient for the plot. It's a fantasy world but the character calls it "Earth" at one point with a capital "E". The characters sound too Western and modern saying things like "dicking around", "self-destruct", "[he] could go fuck himself", "let's skip ahead to the part where you surrender", etc. In the middle 200 pages, the protagonist becomes a passive observer. Very unclear about how much of the world is copy-and-paste China and how much is fantasy -- I.e. all of the science confused me because I feel like a lot of the terminology and concepts would not have been known at that time in China but there was nothing to indicate that the advancements were due to the fantasy/magic side of things. Little to no transition between changes in character relationships. Instalove. Instahate. Insta-genocide????
In my opinion, the author bit off more than could chew for their debut. If it had focused on military strategy, or historical Chinese fiction, or shamanism, I think it would have had a better chance but attempting them all in one book, their FIRST book, everything got diluted and convoluted.
Bummer because I wanted to like this book.
Such a shame. A Chinese-inspired military fantasy had so much potential. Where was the editor on this? It very clearly needed another major rewrite.
Sexism exists only when it's convenient for the plot. It's a fantasy world but the character calls it "Earth" at one point with a capital "E". The characters sound too Western and modern saying things like "dicking around", "self-destruct", "[he] could go fuck himself", "let's skip ahead to the part where you surrender", etc. In the middle 200 pages, the protagonist becomes a passive observer. Very unclear about how much of the world is copy-and-paste China and how much is fantasy -- I.e. all of the science confused me because I feel like a lot of the terminology and concepts would not have been known at that time in China but there was nothing to indicate that the advancements were due to the fantasy/magic side of things. Little to no transition between changes in character relationships. Instalove. Instahate. Insta-genocide????
In my opinion, the author bit off more than could chew for their debut. If it had focused on military strategy, or historical Chinese fiction, or shamanism, I think it would have had a better chance but attempting them all in one book, their FIRST book, everything got diluted and convoluted.
Bummer because I wanted to like this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma