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

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’ll never skip a read from R.F Kuang, not only is her worldbuilding insane, but the characters have so much depth to them. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that establishes characters and their motivations to the extent Kuang does. She covers war SO well, if you read this trust you will be hurting by the end of it, but it’s so worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism