The Poppy War Series - R.F. Kuang
⭐⭐ (2/5)
Chinese Fantasy - Historical Fantasy
Oh boy, i'm gonna get so much hate for this but i decided to do it anyways. I was beyond excited to read Kuang's Poppy War series as it has been one of the most talked about fantasy series for a while, and maybe that's what made the experience so... anti-climactic, but i was really upset by how i ended up viewing these books.
Just a heads up, this is not to say that the series isn't good and that those who like it are wrong, on the contrary it's ME writing MY OPINION on a story i'm not trying to force my opinion on (regardless i do this for myself as i like to find an outlet i can dump my book feelings in).
Cover artist: Jung Shan Chang
I will not be going in detail about the events of the books because i feel like i need to talk more about the story's effect on myself. When i first started the series i was amazed by Kuang's setting and plot. I think it is worth mentioning that the plot is one thing i actually really loved about these books as it was intriguing, engaging, and very much creative. What made the series so hard to enjoy were the characters. Most were annoying and childish, and unfortunately this was true for Rin, the main character, throughout the series.
Moreover, one thing i hated about these books, and i think it was the reason i decided not to finish them, is the way the romance was written. It was beyond me how anyone could read the amount of toxicity happening between the characters and even consider viewing them as romantic. Rin was involved romantically with two characters and both were complete assholes who physically and mentally abused her on multiple occasions. I'm not sure if it was supposed to reflect Rin's character and how she uses self-inflicted harm to deal with her problems, but it was just too unsettling to read and i couldn't continue.
All of that combined with how stupid Rin was written to be just made me regret buying these books in the first place. This was the first DNF in my reading journey, because i usually force myself to finish books I don't particularly like, something i just couldn't do this time.
Again this is not to say R.F. Kuang is a bad writer, i've read Babel and i've liked it quite a bit.














