The Poppy War

A wonderful start to a series with tons of potential. It was very easy to get sucked into the story, and I found myself reading a good chunk of it in one sitting. The writing is accessible and engaging. You get a wonderful sense of Rin's desperation and her masochistic, obsessive drive to push herself beyond normal limitations. “Pain in exchange for power” is an overarching theme of the novel. Rin's early actions foreshadow the significantly larger stakes that unfold later in the novel. She's not an idol. She's not a pure hero that people would necessarily want to emulate. She's a highly flawed survivor who hangs out in that moral grey zone that's fun to roll around in.

The novel is split between a competitive academy setting and brutal warfare. Both sections of the novel have a distinct tone. Readers may find themselves preferring one above the other. The two settings are linked together by one of the story's strongest elements: shamanism and magic. The way this novel handles the use of “magic” is refreshing in its peril, as utilizing it comes with considerable and potentially cataclysmic repercussions. You quickly understand why they're referred to as “The Poppy Wars.” The Poppy War itself is brutal, unforgiving, and heavily inspired by real life events in all their horror. Kuang pulls none of her punches in these grim sections.

My only critique lies in the fact that it doesn't always feel like a self-contained story that will naturally build into something more complex. You can easily see that elements of the story are left hanging for future sequels to resolve. Teasing is good, though some of the unresolved elements are pretty major and/or are rapidly introduced and then just as rapidly dropped in the last quarter of the novel. So it's less like teasing and more like someone smacking you in the back of the head and then running away really fast. Some of the B-string characters also take a hit here, especially Rin's merry band of superhero shamans, as they are introduced too quickly to really build comprehensive personalities and backstories.

All in all, though, it's a highly satisfying and enjoyable read. I especially like how the ending isn't conventional. I won't spoil anything, but you expect the “good guys” to behave in certain ways courtesy of excessive TV shows and novels dealing with these struggles. Rin, in keeping with her masochistic and borderline manic character, ignores all of these expectations and does her own thing with all the repercussions that comes with. And it's a highly refreshing tease of things to come.

Definitely looking forward to the sequels.

“Hello, I am praying,” and “Please leave,” formed into one of my favorite dialogue exchanges in a long time.