The Poppy War

I didn't read reviews before going into this one so I didn't really know what I was getting into. The first part of the book made me think of Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness series, so I wasn't sure why the articles and tidbits I had read about this book said it was not a YA book – and were adamant about this fact. So, part one is really school, academy feel, but then part two hits and I went “oh” and understood the adult tag. The war picks up, things get -real-. But Part three is the darkest part as it has the scenes pulled from real life. Knowing that the horrific depictions and things the characters see actually happened made it even worse. It isn't often I feel sick while reading, but yeah major violence and horror warning there. This is a military fantasy novel and it shows.

This book really pulls on the question of what is good, what is evil, or is everything actually shades of gray?
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and do intend to continue reading the series and see how the characters develop going forward.