The Poppy War

"OMG, OH MY GOD!!! This book was literally freaking perfection. I was super scared that the book was going to be overhyped but it is better than I ever could have imagined! My hands were shaking as I turned the pages, my hands had to cover the other half of the page so I wouldn’t skip ahead. This book has broken me and will probably send me to a book slump. I don’t think I will find anything better for a while. (I still love TOG don’t get me wrong). •MAJOR SPOILERS• Rin’s slow decent into madness was AMAZING. Heart breaking, head pounding, non-comprehendible. Altan’s death was soul crushing. I just can’t put my thoughts into words, nothing can describe how good this book is. "

"Great book. The whole energy and vibe is addicting "

" I know it’s cliche but I genuinely don’t know where to start. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to write a review for this book because that task in itself seemed daunting. I can’t begin to imagine how R.F. Kuang felt writing this masterpiece. As a preface, I typically don’t think highly of this genre but this is the best fantasy book I’ve had the pleasure of reading thus far. The complexity of Kuang’s characters and the intricacies of her world-building is ineffably well crafted. Off the bat, Kuang’s wide breadth of historical knowledge and thorough research was demonstrated throughout this read from the military tactics and strategy to the atrocities of warfare. The Poppy War starts off following Fang Runin, an impoverished orphan in the aftermath of the second Poppy War. As a dark-skinned girl of the lower echelon of society, she is fated to marry a man of her foster parent’s choosing for political gain. Steadfast, Rin takes the elusive Keju exam and against all odds, is matriculated into Niagara's most prestigious military training school. There she faces prejudice and enmity from her peers and scholars alike. Yet, predictably she works her way up the ranks creating a social standing for herself while simultaneously yielding to the allure of an obscure and unfathomable power. This is what the first half of the book entails which is admittedly rather slow but the meticulous detail exemplified in the Nikara history and sardonic humor of the author more than enough compensates for this. All hell breaks loose once the Federation of the Mugan demands retribution from the Nikara empire marking the commencement of the third Poppy War. War wages and unnatural forces are invoked. Forces that Rin is not ready to face. From this point on the book escalates dramatically, what was ostensibly another story about a female heroine takes a dark turn. "

"AHH omg read this now.I am serious this is probably the best book I read in 2023.Its kinda hard to get started on in but once you do it’s so hard to stop.100/10"

"Poor character writing "