You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
val9230d 's review for:
The Poppy War
by R.F. Kuang
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was my mistake thinking this was a somewhat stereotypical YA book. I don't like saying anything is strictly not YA, but this is definitely not for the younger side of YA.
I like going into very popular reads as blind as possible so I'm not biased, so I was not aware of the historical basis of this book. Knowing vaguely about the history of China and Japan, I picked up on the comparison pretty quickly, so the hatred of these two fictional nations didn't seem to come from nowhere to me. When I say I vaguely know the history,I know the name Nanjing, I know truly horrific things happened that I never looked into because I did not want to know the specifics. I fully understand that my ignorance, up until reading this book, was a luxury. If that's a luxury you'd like to continue to indulge in, either skip Chapter 21, or the whole book.
I felt like I read 2 different books. I liked both in their own ways, but the only characters I actually liked by the end had been given very little page time. I love complex characters, and I don't necessarily need to like the MC, but there's too much of what I didn't enjoy to continue. None of that makes it a "bad book" it just makes it not for me.
I like going into very popular reads as blind as possible so I'm not biased, so I was not aware of the historical basis of this book. Knowing vaguely about the history of China and Japan, I picked up on the comparison pretty quickly, so the hatred of these two fictional nations didn't seem to come from nowhere to me. When I say I vaguely know the history,
I felt like I read 2 different books. I liked both in their own ways, but the only characters I actually liked by the end had been given very little page time. I love complex characters, and I don't necessarily need to like the MC, but there's too much of what I didn't enjoy to continue. None of that makes it a "bad book" it just makes it not for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail