The Poppy War: A Novel (edição 2018)

This book had a lot of hype surrounding it, so i just dove into it without doing much research. Sadly this turned this read into a wave of disappointments. The start is super generic and very YA. Then it gets even more YA in the school setting. The writing isn't all that great (it's ok for a debut tho), the characters are all very cliche and the plot is as well. Rin isn't really likeable.

Anyway, at that point i dropped this novel and read other reviews. And i'm glad i did. I'm not sure this would have gotten 2 stars if i had read it all, cuz the end reads like it might be an alt-history china fan fiction in which the author imagines what it would have been like if China had WMDs during the second world war. Obviously that might be an unfair characterisation, but yeah. Not a fan overall. ( )

THIS IS WHY I DON'T READ SERIES IN PROGRESS AHHHHHHH.

This was a super intense book to start off the year's Goodreads challenge, and it'll be tough going to live up to this novel. There is so much to unpack, but for now I'll just say -- thank you Ms. Kuang. ( )

The first half of the book was reminiscent of Harry Potter/The Name of the Wind- orphan child gains admittance to prestigious school and makes friends and enemies very quickly. Rin gets into an inordinate amount of trouble, like Harry and Kvothe, but ends up being an outstanding student in certain areas, like Harry and Kvothe. The similarities end abruptly in part 2 of the book when the war begins, and it gets very, very dark. There is very little magic or fantasy in part 1, but part 2 is when the magic kicks in everything turns south for Rin. I'm looking forward to reading book 2. ( )

At first, R. F. Kuang’s The Poppy War seems like an edgier version of Harry Potter: an outcast-at-the-academy story with a slightly older protagonist, drugs, and a few incidents of self-harm. Then the book veers into Hell.

The setting has a lot to do with it. The Poppy War takes place in a fantasy version of 20th-century China; the eventual focus is a magic-infused retelling of the Second Sino-Japanese War, which began two years before World War II and included a slaughter sometimes referred to as the “Forgotten Holocaust.” The novel isn’t escapist so much as it is a brutal reminder of mankind’s capacity for evil.

But again, The Poppy War doesn’t start that way. Rin, the main character and an orphan, takes a civil-service exam in an attempt to escape a dismal future in an arranged marriage. (In Imperial China, only males could enter the bureaucracy; in Nikan—Kuang’s name for her reimagined China—females have a chance too.) She scores so highly she’s accepted into the country’s premier military academy. Few are impressed by this feat, however: most of the other students are scions of rich, powerful families. They scorn Rin even as she rises to the top of her class in subjects like strategy, martial arts, and—eventually—magic.

This is the book’s first shapeshift. Magic is rumored to exist, and referenced occasionally in the early chapters. Yet we see no evidence of it until almost halfway through the story; at the academy, the study of magical “lore” is generally derided. In truth, it should be feared. Magic has a terrible price in this world. Power hurts, and channeling it often leads to madness.

Rin pursues this knowledge anyway, until her schooling is interrupted by the story’s second jolt: the outbreak of war with the Federation of Mugen (Japan). This is when things get horrific.

A gentler narrative would have waited until Rin graduated, perhaps taking the entirety of Book 1 to see her through school and then setting up Book 2 as the “battle book.” But Kuang isn’t interested in sugarcoating savagery. War doesn’t just derail hopes and dreams—it destroys them. Some of Rin’s teachers die. Many of her friends do too. Nothing will ever be the same.

This is especially true after the destruction of one of the cities Rin and her new military cohort are supposed to protect. The carnage is unimaginable: wanton mutilation, pyramids of corpses, extreme sexual violence. It feels over the top. But as Kuang notes in her afterword, she based almost every scene in these chapters on real accounts of the Forgotten Holocaust, also known as the Nanjing Massacre and the Rape of Nanjing. “Very little was made up — most of what you see truly happened.”

Rin struggles to process how the Mugenese could carry out such heinous acts. “They were monsters!” she shrieks to a fellow soldier. “They were not human!” Her friend pushes back. “Have you ever considered,” he says slowly, “that that was exactly what they thought of us?” Rin grapples with this concept—the ways we justify atrocities—for the latter part of the book. She also wonders how you can avenge a genocide without committing one.

So, yeah: not a bedtime story to enjoy with your kids once you’ve finished Harry Potter. I also wouldn’t start The Poppy War if you’re not in a good headspace. But you shouldn’t ignore the history here either (altered as it is). Abominations like the Rape of Nanjing are the last things we want to repeat. And Kuang makes that point with heart and skill. This is a read that lingers.

As it should.

(For more reviews like this one, see www.nickwisseman.com) ( )

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: The Poppy War

Enrolling in Sineguard academy is only the beginning of Rin’s new life. She will learn that being a peasant amid high born military children is a new challenge she must overcome. She will have to prove herself among her peers, and overcome the derogatory comments whispered behind her back. As she battles her way through the slander and harsh treatment, Rin will discover a dark power locked within herself. A power that could easily burn all those around her if it isn’t kept in check. But power is something Rin has always wanted because it means she can destroy those she hates.

Rin as a character surprised me. Her blunt attitude and dialogue threw me what I first started reading. I expected a girl who had to build herself into a strong willed independent woman as most young protagonists are. Instead, Rin started off capable and willing to do what she had to. No matter who tried to bring her down, she was prepared to swing back and defend herself.

The Poppy War focuses on the atrocities that are committed during war. The plot progresses rather quickly, sometimes months at a time to push Rin and her companions into situations formed from long days waiting for enemies to attack. While there is a purpose to the shifting time, it also takes away the ability to see the characters progressively develop. There were times when Rin announced how she felt about different characters and it was more telling than showing how she felt. However, where the relationships between characters may not have been believable the bitter realities R.F. Kuang created in multiple scenes made all the difference.

The Poppy War is a book for those who enjoy history as much as they enjoy reading fantasy. Politics play a key role in the progression of the war. However, make sure you are prepared for the grisly details. The cruelties witnessed by Rin and her fellow soldiers turned my stomach but also were a wake up call to what could happen during times of war. It’s not honorable battles where the heroes always win. I am interested in seeing what will happen in the next book, and how Rin will overcome her new challenges. ( )