A review by surefinewhatever_
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’m sorrrry, I know this one is a booksta darling but I just didn’t love it. My biggest complaint (besides it feeling slow) was that I felt Rin was always defining herself based on the relationships she had with the men in her life, From tutor Feyrik, to Kitay, to Irjah & Jiang, to Nezha & Altan, and even to Chaghan. Maybe this is also me just wishing there were other women in this book? Idk hard to say. I appreciated that Rin was imperfect and that the book is tackling a lot of different ideas. This book did get incredibly brutal though, and having had to read this one for class, I really would have appreciated some content warnings. Not to mention, the casual anti-fatness (trope of the greedy/wealthy constantly being depicted as fat) and casual ableism. All the same, I get why this book has meant a lot to so many people, it just wasn’t that for me.
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