Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

1658 reviews

markseyy's review

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Drug abuse, Genocide, Rape, Gore, Murder, Violence, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Self harm, Addiction, Animal death, Death, and Drug use

tne_network's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book got me back into reading. I could not put it down. The author has a way of writing that sucks you into the mind of this young woman and you understand why she chooses the choices that she does. Through circumstance after circumstance that she has been thrown into, this coming of age story is less about the character's maturity developing, but finding the power inside and facing the demons within and outside herself. I have been fully consumed by the main character's emotions and it has been hard to pick up other books after finishing it, so I have decided to finish the trilogy before starting another book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: War, Gore, Violence, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Drug use

Minor: Murder, Racism, Infertility, Vomit, Child abuse, Self harm, and Confinement

saffic's review

dark informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Around 70% of the way through this book, the author got tired of writing a YA and decided to leap up to Adult. It was not done tactfully, in my opinion. The things I liked about this book were far outweighed by the things I didn't. 

Now that I'm thinking more about it, the more upset I am about this book. There are hints of some really good stuff in here, but it's all brought down by how boring and tonally all over the place this book is.

Very petty comment I have: Every cover I've seen of this book has Rin wielding a bow... when her main weapon has always been a sword???

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Xenophobia, War, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, and Drug use

This book is very bog-standard YA until Part 3 of the book. One of the first chapters of part three has pretty graphic depictions of genocide. And the second or third chapter of Part 3 has an extremely graphic retelling of rape on a large scale.

thehannahclaire's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Please read about the Nanjing Massacre/ the Rape of Nanjing before reading this book. I’m so glad this book introduced me to a portion of history I was not taught, even though it is gruesome. Nevertheless, this book has one chapter that included the most horrific scenes I’ve ever read or heard of. It’s not just about checking trigger warnings because this book isn’t just triggering— it’s traumatic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Gore, Child death, Grief, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Torture, Sexual assault, War, Hate crime, Rape, Violence, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Body horror, and Addiction

Moderate: Self harm, Cursing, Vomit, and Classism

renorsomethin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Drug abuse, Murder, Torture, Genocide, Sexual assault, Blood, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Gore, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Self harm, Colonisation, Infertility, Cursing, Vomit, Classism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Child death, Classism, Xenophobia, Animal death, and Death of parent

chrisb913's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If you want a slice of emotional damage with your trauma pie, this is the book for you. Please check trigger warnings. Kuang does a phenomenal job mixing real world issues and history into such a unique and incredibly built out world. The characters were incredibly well written. Even the characters I hated at the beginning, I felt bad for by the end of the book. Also i absolutely loved the magic system. Typically I enjoy the magic to be a bit more concrete, but the way Kuang wrote an increidble rich and captivating magic system, all while keeping it vague and mysterious due to it being almost forgotten was 🤌🤌. This was a masterfully written book and I cannot wait to read more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, Rape, and Drug use

Minor: Animal death and Infertility

beanformation's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug use, Cursing, Blood, Sexual content, Murder, Sexual violence, Slavery, Genocide, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Death, Trafficking, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, and Body horror

arguhlincozzi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Child death, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Classism, Racism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Torture, Violence, War, Gore, Body shaming, Child abuse, Grief, Murder, Rape, and Emotional abuse

silviekg's review

dark lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Gore, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Torture, Xenophobia, Rape, Death, and War

Moderate: Drug abuse, Self harm, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, and Sexual assault

crystalsbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

if i could have i would have devoured this book in one sitting. thank you r. f. kuang.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Colonisation, Death, Sexual violence, and Genocide

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Racism, and Violence