![[Book Review] The Poppy War By R.F. Kuang](https://cdn.blogarama.com/images/posts_thumbs_site_id/13400/1340038-3088084284.jpg "[Book Review] The Poppy War By R.F. Kuang")
Summary
An epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic.
When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.
But surprises aren’t always good.
Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.
For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .
Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.
Facts
Published: May 2018
Length: 545
Genre: Fantasy/Historical
Format: e-Book
Review
God where to even start. I’ve been in two minds about whether I even wanted to read this book and then I saw that it was on Kindle unlimited, and I thought what the hell I’ll give it a try.
It’s written in 3rd person which I don’t love but I do have a 50-page read minimum before I DNF, so I pushed on. The story is broken into 3 parts. 1st part fascinating I was very intrigued about the school and the world building was not too bad, although a little jarring sometimes due to the time jumps. There was a lot of telling and not showing going on which kind of sucked as well.
Parts 2 and 3. HOT DAMN did things go to shit! War is in full swing and its brutal to say the least. Chapter 21 – I read someone said to check trigger warnings (which I didn’t, because I don’t feel like I need them) and yeah, I totally get why. It was horrific. The writing was great. I just don’t think I fully appreciated how heavy the story was going to be.
This is not a genre I would normally read and so I probably won’t continue the series, which has given me some paused on what rating I would give this book., I think considering how graphically depicted the war was and how great the writing is I’ll probably give it a highis mark.
Character wise, I thought Rin was very complex, I had trouble understanding her thought process and some of the decisions she made was cold and she seemed to have very little in the way of compassion. There were a lot of side characters the most interesting was probably Altan but even he was difficult to like.
My Rating: 4/5
About the Author
Rebecca F. Kuang is a Marshall Scholar, translator, and award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy and Babel: An Arcane History, among others. She has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford; she is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale. She is rarely here, except to leave occasional adoring reviews for books she really loved.
