The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)

by R.F. Kuang

Well, fuck the heavenly order of things. If getting married to a gross old man was her preordained role on this earth, then Rin was determined to rewrite it.

She adored praise—craved it, needed it, and realized she found relief only when she finally had it. She realized, too, that she felt about praise the way that addicts felt about opium.

She craved praise so deeply that she felt it in her bones. And just like an addict, she did whatever she could to get it.

“Killing isn’t the same as letting die,”