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A review by spencerjie
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Did not finish book. Stopped at 53%.
First, this book needs serious trigger warnings.
Second, for how closely it follows Asian history (including a very detailed retelling of the Rape of Nanjing), it does not do a good job of treating its characters that clearly represent the Taiwanese people with the respect they deserve. There is plenty of set up of prejudice, racism, and harsh/untrue stereotypes of the Speerly without the investigative work or clear denouncement of Chinese propaganda and misconceptions of Taiwan. I should not have been surprised and this was written by a Chinese author, but I urge writers from countries that have brutalized and colonized smaller nations to really take a hard look at their opinions of others before writing characters to be “savages” or “uncontrollable.”
The fantasy aspects and the prose itself are fantastic and that is precisely what is so disappointing about this book. The author clearly has impressive talent and great potential. However, politics especially those with deep histories of mistreatment should not be written about so shallowly.
Second, for how closely it follows Asian history (including a very detailed retelling of the Rape of Nanjing), it does not do a good job of treating its characters that clearly represent the Taiwanese people with the respect they deserve. There is plenty of set up of prejudice, racism, and harsh/untrue stereotypes of the Speerly without the investigative work or clear denouncement of Chinese propaganda and misconceptions of Taiwan. I should not have been surprised and this was written by a Chinese author, but I urge writers from countries that have brutalized and colonized smaller nations to really take a hard look at their opinions of others before writing characters to be “savages” or “uncontrollable.”
The fantasy aspects and the prose itself are fantastic and that is precisely what is so disappointing about this book. The author clearly has impressive talent and great potential. However, politics especially those with deep histories of mistreatment should not be written about so shallowly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Self harm, Torture, Classism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Racism, War, Drug abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Blood, Body horror, and Misogyny