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

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


Nothing could have prepared me for this book, this was a heck of a ride.

Here is a quick summary and maybe small spoilers

it’s starts cool and easy you have a school arc and the main character gets a bunch of enemies because she’s not as rich as the rest of them, it’s not really new to read about but ofc I love it.
And then the second arc, a whole fucking war, it happened so fast I was not prepared suddenly from a classroom to a battlefield and thing is the more and more I read the more hopeless I got for the main character to succeed and it just gets harder and more depressing (which is not a bad thing for the story but it’s definitely bad for my mental health) especially in chapter 21, you really need to be prepared for that shit.


Now here is my review

The book is really good, especially how R F kuang showed the horrors of war, and not like a fictional war but a real war, if you know your history then you know that Mugan is obviously inspired by ww2 Imperial Japan and their war crime especially to the Chinese.

I loved the characters, RF Kuang really knows how to make you feel and connect with them.

As much as I loved this book I can’t help but see some flaws, 
1-the book is way too fast paced
We got from a classroom to a war in one chapter, and I didn’t feel there was a lot of character exploring for Rin because of how fast the story was going, especially in the first half. A lot of things don’t get their fair share of description.

And some get too descriptive,
2-Subtext, I swear I know how to read subtext and most readers do, don’t treat your readers like idiots, you don’t need to spell out everything for them, LEAVE SUBTEXT!
Also there are way too much telling and not enough showing.




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