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anxiousshorebird's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This book suffered from mismatched tone and some bad pacing. It felt like a YA magic school novel (complete with a Draco Malfoy type character) for way too long. Then by the end it was a grim dark, violent, war torn character study. It felt like an abrupt shift. Looking back, I see some merit to experiencing the MC's journey from determined teenager to hardened soldier along with her. While reading it, however, I found myself wishing her origins were told through intermittent flashbacks.
I really enjoy the world that Juang created. I love that she hasn't shied away from a DEEPLY flawed main character. Frankly, I don't even like this MC. But o sure loved reading her story once I got passed the slog of her schooling.
All in all, it's far from a 5 star read for me, but it's a very commendable debut novel. I won't hesitate to read the rest of the trilogy. I plan to read a light romance before the next Poppy War book though, because this shit got DARK.
Speaking of, please check the content warnings. Since the beginning is so much more tame than the rest, it's worth the risk of spoiling yourself a bit to make sure you know what you're getting into. I recommend skipping chapter 21 if you're someone who can take a lot, but have a limit.
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, War, Body horror, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Violence, Drug abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, and Torture
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Addiction, Excrement, Animal death, Infertility, and Pregnancy
Minor: Alcohol, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Trafficking
mabi29's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Sobre a forma como a autora narra os terrores de uma guerra, achei muito bem escrito, ela passou a angústia da espera do início do combate, passou bem o medo e a raiva que todos sentem, e nos piores feitos ela não foi desnecessariamente detalhista. Ela narrou coisas horríveis, bem traumatizantes, mas parecia que ela mesmo queria que acabasse logo.
A personagem principal tinha horas que me dava raiva, mas eu entendo ela, o que me estressada é que ela ficava trocando de opinião a cada minuto, mas sempre ia pro mesmo caminho.
Gostei do livro, acredito que vou ler os seguintes.
Graphic: War, Genocide, Rape, Child death, Child abuse, Death, and Torture
mollyjoy__'s review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Body horror, Child death, Addiction, Death, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and War
Chapter 21 of this book is especially hard to read and details recollections of extremely graphic violence towards women and sexual assault.katelyndepaul's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Murder, Genocide, War, and Sexual violence
bobaandcaffeine's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Colonisation, Drug use, War, Drug abuse, Genocide, and Gore
thejwq's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Child death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Child abuse, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Gore, Murder, War, Slavery, and Torture
benji_dw's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Rape, Medical trauma, Genocide, War, Violence, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, Drug use, Child abuse, Blood, Death, Addiction, and Physical abuse
miranda_redmond's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, War, Torture, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Genocide
Moderate: Classism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death, Self harm, Colonisation, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual violence
nestasbff's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
i <u>really</u> wanted to love this like everyone else, and give it 5 stars, yet i’m just unable to.
it stared out extremely promising and i actually really liked the first 100-ish pages, but after she left the Academy it just completely lost me.
the last 150 pages were interesting <i>enough</i> that i didn’t feel like i was going to either fall asleep or DNF (also because of the way too long 30-50 page chapters), however, that’s when i really started to get irritated with Rin (the MC) and started not liking her.
my favorite character (or more like the only character i actually liked in the end) was Kitay.
on top of that, i also feel like i didn’t really fully understand the gods and the magic system. it was kind of confusing to me ngl.
the ending… well. iykyk.
overall, i don’t know how to feel, but i do want to continue with the series, as everyone seems to love it and cry by the end (and because i, as usual, bought all the books before reading the first one).
Graphic: Violence, War, Body horror, Torture, Death, and Self harm
Moderate: Addiction
markseyy's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: War, Drug abuse, Genocide, Rape, Gore, Murder, Violence, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Self harm, Addiction, Animal death, Death, and Drug use