A bloody and intense storyline

This novel is incredibly engaging. I found myself desperate to read it as often as I could, because I was involved by the story Kuang has so vividly rendered.
The storyline might seem a bit predictable at first - orphan goes to a special school, discovers 'uncanny' abilities, yadda yadda - but the way in which Kuang delivers this trope-y story made it seem anything but clichéd.

It might sound daft but one of the aspects that pulled me into this story is that Kuang made me believe in Rin and her tumultuous and often hostile world. The many physical and inner conflicts she faces made me deeply weary. I grew increasingly apprehensive. Kuang does not sugar coat the brutality of war and the inevitable horrors brought by such conflicts. Yet, Kuang’s prose could deliver such beautiful and elegant phrases that I could not find anything she wrote distasteful. Her style would often come across as simple but it is this apparent simplicity that makes Kuang’s words all the more effective. There is a raw almost visceral aspect to her writing that makes it hard not to be affected by what she writes of.
The Poppy War offers plenty of action, tense showdowns, constantly shifting power dynamics, and an arresting storyline....

As much as I loved this book there are a few things that I thought could have been “better” or that I hope can be more developed in the next instalments:

✔The way in which Kung depicts a moving body is simply captivating. I was in awe of her descriptions of combat. Even when during these fighting scenes the “eyes” seem to be a bit overdone (everyone seems to have very arresting eyes, especially those who fight well or are shamans).

✔Rin, this girl, this young woman, frustrated the hell out of me. She is a act first, think later, kind of person. Also, you know how some say that there is no such thing as a stupid question? Well, I disagree, because Rin asks a helluva of stupid questions. And the she is ‘stunned’ or suprised by the unfavourable reactions these often insubordinate questions illicit. She enragers her peers, and her superiors, with her words and her obtuseness. Yet, in spite of my not liking her or her attitude, I still cared for her. Especially since she seems to be treated like a piñata by most of the characters.
And yes, I do mean that she is treated as something that should be bashed about. Her mentors are not upfront enough, pushing her to make stupid decisions. Her friends...well, I don’t think that there is one healthy relationship or friendship in this book. The relationships she has verge on or are of an abusive (physical and non) nature. Given the world Rin lives in it’s hardly surprising that this should be the case….still
The path that she takes feels sadly unavoidable. It's refreshing to read about a female character who longs for power....but the damage caused by Rin's newfound thirst for revenge...well...mmmh...there is no coming back from that.

✖A lot of characters tell Rin the classic “you don’t know what I’ve been through” line. I mean, they are all living through a war, so I don’t think Rin should just let others bemoan their own tragedies, especially since before this new explosion of violence, Rin was already an outcast.

✖The few female characters that make an appearance are all very negative depictions of femininity. They are shrill and or unnecessary mean, especially towards - surprise surprise - Rin. They seemed very “flat”. They were either jealous or callous, treating Rin in a cold or aggressive manner. Hopefully new female characters in the following instalments will change this but…

✖I think the novel would have benefited from having a few more descriptions of the characters’ surroundings. I know it is an action focused novel but a more delineated landscape would have made Rin’s world all the more vivid.

Overall, I recommend this very much to both historical and fantasy fans. If you love the trope of the “tragic hero/ine” whose thirst for revenge and power bring about their own destruction...look no further. Rin is an Anakin Skywalker in the makings...

I know quite a lot of people are worried by the “trigger warnings” but this book is never gratuitously violent. The violence depicted is both brutal and necessary, and because of it, we can better understand Rin and those around her.

11 people found this helpful

Strong female lead turns whiny girl

Fantasy with Asian influences and a female lead - loved the first half.

Rin, the protagonist, claims a future other than 'wife'. She fights (literally) to be acknowledged for who she is, not where she comes from. She questions authority, she doesn't complain, she doesn't back down - ever. She's amazing! Until she's not...

About halfway through the book, she has a personality transplant: from awesome heroine, to whiny, teenage girl. The focus of the book also decides to shift, to her commander. He is - of course - handsome, moody and so mysterious, I still don't know what to make of him. Neither does Rin, until she's suddenly, inexplicably in love with him.

The narration didn't help. Emily Woo Zeller has an amazing voice when describing scenery, but every other sentence coming out of Rin's mouth sounded like she was about to burst into tears. Not exactly a compelling female role-model.

This wavering in the middle threw me so completely that by the time Rin got her agency back (the end of the book!), I was done. I'm sorry to say that I wouldn't recommend this title to anyone, bu especially not those looking for strong, female protagonists.

8 people found this helpful

Well that was intense.

Rapid Review
A very intense fantasy that does not pull punches. It is a close examination on the effects of war both national and personal. A new and interesting direction for fantasy. Probably wouldn’t recommend to someone new to fantasy, but would definitely recommend to a fantasy fan who is looking for something different.

Rambling Review
Well this was brave. If nothing else R. F. Kuang has shaken up the fantasy community. The first half of this book seems to be fairly standard, tropy fantasy that I believe most people will enjoy. All good so far. Then war hits. And hits hard.
The violence is pretty bad but I wouldn’t say it is worse than many other fantasy novels. The main difference is with scale. I have listened to fantasies with graphic combat sequences, such as Joe Abercrombie. I have listened to the brutal tactical battles of Brian Staveley. But I don’t think anything has felt more real than the Poppy War. The consequence of war are stripped bare in some ways that can be difficult to read.
One reason for this is the historical parallels with the real world. Feuding War lords, technologically superior nations, hell how many wars have been fought for control of opium. Where many authors create a deep vibrant world by creating fantasy adaptations of real world things, Kuang just directly inserts history, objects, and substances to create a connection with the reader. There are even huge uses of magic where you don’t need to look hard for the real world inspiration.
Another reason for the realism of the Poppy War is that there are no heros. The moral greyscale is blurred to the point where there are times that you don’t want the main character to succeed. Most fantasy conveys a sense of ‘this guys is right’ even if it is just through sentence phrasing. Kuang doesn’t. She lays out decisions, flaws and atrocities and leaves it up to you how to take them.
Sort of leading on from that. The main character, Rin. Hard working, resilient orphan transformed into a merciless rage filled soldier. As said before the start is pretty standard. However, Rin then goes through an intense character change as a result of the people and events around her. I think what Kunag wanted to do was look at how war has an effect at the national and personal level, and what she does with Rin is quite a bold move in my opinion. I will say through-out most of the book I didn’t like Rin. I was always rooting for her to make certain choices and grow as a character. And she did develop, just not always in the way I wanted. This sounds very negative but actually I think it is one of the things that makes this book stand out and makes it great to listen too. It does not do what the reader wants. It goes where it would go. This is basically why I would recommend it to a seasoned fantasy fan. It isn’t an easy book to listen too, but I do think it is one of the best fantasies in my library.

Nattering on Narration
Emily Woo Zeller is a good narrator in my opinion. She embodies Rin well and delivers scenes and emotions well. Some of her character voices are a little shrill and it took me by surprise at times when wearing headphones. Occasionally some of the characters did come across as quite whiny, but I think that was a choice that fitted even though it grated at times. For me the narration helped enforced some of the more intense emotional effects of the circumstances. In short, not my favourite narration, but one that worked well.

Quick aside. At the time of this review I have already finished Book 2 (the Dragon Republic). Some of the things I have said were taking this into account. The themes and characters arcs started in book one are continued and developed really well. I think that the books are better appreciated together and am really looking forward to the final instalment.

Conclusion
This was a hard book to listen to. The strong parallels with real world events made it really hard hitting. Rin has some great development that is taken in some interesting directions that were not necessarily enjoyable, but certainly made it original. I would definitely recommend this to a fantasy fan who is looking for a different take on the genre.

4 people found this helpful

Going no where....

I was interested to start with, but the characters changed positions radically and the story lines developed into nothing much.... it was like a i thoughts Rins training would have stood to her to some degree but that never came apparent. Interesting concepts but disappointing execution.

3 people found this helpful

Did not enjoy Emily Woo Zeller's narration.

Starts enjoyably, you build an affinity and love for Rin very quickly and you find yourself rooting for her very quickly. It is well written and has you on the edge of your seat in the early parts of the story. Unfortunately by the end Rin has become a thoroughly unmoral, unbalanced and dislikable character and I found myself not really caring what happened to her, I just wanted to get to the end so it was over. No real balance to the book.

I also found the use of expletives unnecessary at times, everyone loves a good expletive but often they felt out of place and not within keeping with the rest of the text. Some of the graphic scenes are also very uncomfortable, it was not really necessary to go into so much detail, (you will know the part when you get there) less is more at times.

My biggest gripe however was with the narration. Many of her male character voices made me laugh out loud they were so awful, think your Mum doing silly voices for the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk when you were 3. Her female voices become so sqweeky and shill at times I had to turn the volume down until she had stopped, literally nails down a blackboard.

Shame as it started so well.

3 people found this helpful

Great but very dark

So first I thought this was going to shape up like a Hogwarts-esque training camp before some run of the mill battles against the federation. But it gets v nasty and grim on many levels. It was a great story, and I do feel somewhat upbeat at the end, but seriously. Some nasty stuff gets described imo. But definitely feels very original and fresh and different.

1 person found this helpful

Magnificent book!

My words. This was a magnificent read (audio). Fantastic storytelling and the layering of each character is superb. Definitely a YA fantasy book you need to read (listen).

2 people found this helpful

I love the shamanism and Mulan-feel!

It's both a little slow, but suddenly it speeds up and then you're completely sucked in

The characters lack consistency and depth

There are quite a few reasons I enjoyed this book. The world building was interesting, the protagonist starts as a strong female with skill and determination and I felt as though I may have actually learned about warfare. However, as the book progresses I find the Rin get weaker and weaker. In the early days she is capable of making drastic decisions, big leaps of faith and shows so much perseverance at any cost. As I came to the half way mark I found myself exhausted by her constant self doubt, feeling sorry for herself and not standing up for people around her. How had she come so far pushing her limits and thinking for herself only to be made into a whiney mess?
Other characters also didn't feel too fleshed out. It felt like as soon as they gained enough 'screen time' to be memorable they were only introduced back into the story at random and short intervals, never really interacting with Rin though she is the only perspective we see.
Again though, I enjoyed the picture painted for me in terms of the world building. I just wish Rin had kept her (for lack of a better word) fiery personality

Dark

I liked this book but could not finish it and wish I'd never tried. This book touches on many sensitive subjects, events and action in graphic detail. Please check trigger warnings on other sites before you decide to read this. Also note that this book is drawing a lot of inspiration from real history.

That said the universe is compelling and the story is surprising. I enjoyed it enough that I stayed with if for far longer than I should have when I realized it was in fact grimdark. If you have a strong stomach then this is a really well written and impactful story.