The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jan 31, 2021 Maryam rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, favorites, ebooks, popsugar2021, tpl2021

Review to come!

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Dec 20, 2020 Jessica rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle

I loved the first third of The Poppy War, but the rest of the book was not really my thing. It starts off as a boarding-school novel set in a thinly veiled alternate China, but then veers hard into military fantasy. The military parts are based heavily on the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking, and there is a lot of description of human brutality throughout the book.

The novel is set in a world where gods and shamans are real, and psychedelic drugs can be used to commune with the g I loved the first third of The Poppy War, but the rest of the book was not really my thing. It starts off as a boarding-school novel set in a thinly veiled alternate China, but then veers hard into military fantasy. The military parts are based heavily on the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking, and there is a lot of description of human brutality throughout the book.

The novel is set in a world where gods and shamans are real, and psychedelic drugs can be used to commune with the gods, draw on their power, and even become possessed by gods. However, the government denies the existence of gods and shamans and has forbidden the use of opium. Rin starts out as a war orphan raised by cruel foster parents in a remote province, but through her tenacity and her fear of being married to a man she loathes, she becomes a top scorer on a nationwide exam that entitles her to study at the country's most prestigious military academy. Through her studies of ancient history and lore, she begins learning about the gods and, almost without understanding where her studies are taking her, begins training to become a shaman.

The book didn't do a great job of giving depth to Rin's fellow students, probably at least partially because she's an outcast and doesn't get to know them well, but I was frequently confused about which student was which. Even still, I loved the parts set at the school.

Once the school was attacked and Rin joined the military, the book didn't hold my attention quite as well. I had a hard time understanding Rin's motivation as she swung back and forth between obeying her teacher and following her commander. I also found that the people she served with in her military division weren't fleshed out any better than the students at her school, so I had trouble keeping them straight, too.

The Poppy War is the first book in a trilogy, and I put the other two on hold at the library on the strength of the first part of this book, but I'm not sure if I'll end up reading them. The writing in The Poppy War is really strong, and the author was really young when she wrote it, so there's a good chance the sequels are better than the first volume, but at 650 pages each they might add up to more military fantasy than I can handle. ...more

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Nov 03, 2019 Alvin rated it really liked it

I’m tempted to give this book 5 stars because it’s that good. The story is familiar, but its execution feels more complex, nuanced, and mature. Its depiction of war is accurately horrifying. There’s one scene where I had to close the book to take a break. I’m definitely going to read the next one, and may change the rating of this one making sure that this is not a fluke.

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