The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

Title: The Poppy War
Author: R. F. Kuang
Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy
Pages: 544
Series: The Poppy War
Links: Amazon, Goodreads

Summary

Like many others, Rin was orphaned by the Poppy War. She was raised by opium smugglers who mistreated her, and are determined to use Rin’s marriage for their own gain. In a desperate attempt to escape her guardians, Rin aces the Keju, a test used to find talented youths to learn at the Academies. Rin’s success gets her into the most elite military school in Nikan, but her troubles are far from over. 

Sinegard is meant to turn the elite into leaders — not to train a dark skinned orphan from the south. While being targeted by her peers and her teachers, Rin discovers a mysterious power she possesses but can’t control. She explores her unearthly power with the help of an unstable teacher and psychoactive drugs. What Rin doesn’t realize is that understanding her power will mean more than surviving school. What she doesn’t realize is that another Poppy War is on its way.

Review

I loved this book. I was surprised when I realized it was so long because I finished it so quickly. The book just felt like a full story. I got to see Rin suffer as a war orphan, struggle to make it through Sinegard, and become an influential warrior for Nikan. Kuang took no shortcuts, and she still managed to make the story interesting and exciting from cover to cover.

Not surprisingly, my favorite part of the book was the characters and their relationships. Rin has been mistreated her entire life, and I liked that I got to see how hardship gave her strengths and weaknesses. She was far from a perfect narrator, but I loved her determination. I thought Kuang did a magnificent job at writing a character who could believably make the hard decisions that war demands.

The strong characterization was especially intriguing because it was driven by the war that became increasingly relevant throughout the story. Although the story appears to be another coming of age, young adult novel at the beginning, the book is ultimately about the Poppy War. Rin and her peers go from teenagers trying to secure their own futures to men and women who decide the fate of their nation. I loved that I got to see how each characters’ perspective changed as they went from learning about war to actually living in one.

One thing that bothered me about the book was its pacing, and I had trouble deciding whether I liked that it began with Rin’s experience at the academy. The Poppy War almost felt like two separate books, with part one covering Rin’s years at the academy and part two covering a short period of war. This bothered me a bit while I was reading the story, but getting to see the characters transition made up for the difference in pacing. In the end, I decided the story was better with both parts in the same book.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. I absolutely loved the story and its characters. There was a huge difference in pacing between the academy years and the war, but the issue wasn’t big enough for me to give this book a lower rating. Although the story appears to be a young adult novel because of the young narrator, I would be careful about recommending this book to young readers. Drugs, rape, sex, violence, abuse, and torture are all described in the story, especially towards the end when the nation is at war. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy or historical fiction. The story is based on the Second Sino-Japanese War and has fantasy elements that don’t overshadow the historical context. I love both fantasy and historical fiction, so this book was perfect for me!

May your days be full of magic and dragons,

Peyton

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