From the Bookshelf of Scripted in Fantasy and Fiction …

The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)

R.F. Kuang

Start date: March 1, 2025

Finish date: April 1, 2025

Discussion: Book Club Chats

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 21 topics — 811 comments total

Book Club Chats

A Court of Thorns and Roses - Series
By Lauren · 6 posts · 51 views

last updated Sep 05, 2025 09:30AM

Standalone
By Reader · 4 posts · 17 views

last updated Sep 04, 2025 08:01AM

What Members Thought

Dec 16, 2023 Shelli rated it liked it

Shelves: book-i-own, kindle, fantasy-fix, audio, expected-more, could-have-been-shorter, read-in-2023

Wow. This is a hard one for me to review. I've owned it since shortly after it was published in 2018. I started it a couple different times and just couldn't get into it. I finished all my other challenges this year and decided now was the time to tackle this one. In the beginning it seriously felt like a bunch of other ya fantasy I've read. Poor, orphan girl treated badly by her adoptive parents is about to be forced into marriage to a nasty old man just to benefit the family business. She is a Wow. This is a hard one for me to review. I've owned it since shortly after it was published in 2018. I started it a couple different times and just couldn't get into it. I finished all my other challenges this year and decided now was the time to tackle this one. In the beginning it seriously felt like a bunch of other ya fantasy I've read. Poor, orphan girl treated badly by her adoptive parents is about to be forced into marriage to a nasty old man just to benefit the family business. She is able to get out of this by passing a crazy test (no one of her means or situation ever makes it) and is accepted into a prestigious military school. Ok. Once there, she is the wrong size, color, sex etc etc. Not that these stories aren't important, but it didn't feel new or different at first. Once it got going though, it was basically a war story. Lost its ya feel. Brutal. All the war talk and battle prep made it even a little boring in places. Then it started to feel preachy. This made me reread the blurb and look into it. I saw a review that said it was basically about the Sino-Japanese war. Again, not a bad thing (I learned a bit about that war I didn't know after googling) I found I just wasn't enjoying the story. While I liked some of the characters, I never felt a strong attachment. I think because our main character Rin wasn't sure how she felt. One minute she liked and respected someone, the next she hated them. Seriously. Her intentions and feelings were all over the place and it became very muddled. There was a lot at play here. War, men, gods, magic and a very angry main character. I felt confused at times. Wasn't sure what I felt because I wasn't sure what she felt. Then there were a few scenes that were just brutal and honestly offensive. I'm not sure they were necessary, either in subject matter or dialogue. I remember thinking "what?" and then having to re-listen.
This book has a high rating and I fully expected to love it. So, I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it. I had different expectations. I usually think of these fantasy books as an escape reading. Something fun. My big thing with these kinds of books is having a someone or something that I am cheering for. I missed that here. On that note, if you want more of a fantasy war story with no romance and all the jazz...this might be for you. I don't want this review to come off as totally negative either. The writing itself is very good. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 17, 2019 Tash rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, fantasy, read-in-2019, irontomeathon

Easily one of the best books I've read this year, so far!
A flawed protagonist who isn't immediately an overpowered hero but someone who has to make mistakes and sacrifice so much. A deep and complicated world with a rich history and mythology. And finally, a plot with some genuinely surprising twists that's not afraid to go into some really dark places.
There were a couple of rough spots, where pacing was a little off or one of the minor characters may do something not entirely in character but ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 10, 2025 Batya’s Bookish Babel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: empire, fantasy, historical-fiction

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️The Poppy War is a great example of how the genre of fantasy can create a space to grapple with increasingly difficult aspects of human history and humanity. This book is not for the faint hearted, but you will be a better person for having read it. Or rather, by the end, you may well question whether or not you are a good person at all. I suspect that’s precisely the point.

Like · see review