The Poppy War

I'm conflicted. I absolutely enjoyed the first half of The Poppy War, but in the middle of the novel the tone changed and a sudden shift muddled the character development. The pacing felt slow for the last third of the book. Although, I noticed most people prefer the last portion of book, so that's interesting and pretty cool, but alas, I'm still here in my little isolated corner twiddling my thumbs.

I have a lot of respect for Kuang's writing in this story, especially as a discovery writer. One of the most difficult situations discovery writers—or gardeners/pantser—find themselves in, is in the resolution of a story. Unfortunately, this felt like what happened with The Poppy War's last quarter.

3 stars isn't all that bad either way. It's one of those books that I think about for a week and wonder, WHAT THE ACTUAL FU—