Author: R.F. Kuang
# of Pages: 530 (ebook)
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising. But surprises aren’t always good. Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school. For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . . Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.
Review: I heard rave reviews both online and irl, but I don't understand the hype. I was ready for a dense adult high fantasy, but instead The Poppy War is an unserious YA historical fiction with magical/religious elements.
Part 1 (aka the first 200 pages) was suffering through some shallow exposition that honestly felt like some blend of Harry Potter/Divergent/<insert your popular YA fantasy sci-fi book here>. The plot points during this part are very predictable (classic underdog heroine takes on seemingly impossible tasks! story).
Kuang introduces a lot of characters without diving deeper into their characters and their interpersonal relationships. Even the protagonist Rin is incredibly generic; a hormonal teenager who doesn't really know who she likes/loves/cares about and what motivates her since she's some random orphan who doesn't have commitments other than surviving.
The pacing of the story picked up quite a bit in Part 2 and 3. There's significant war events that happen and plenty of gore-y descriptions that can keep the reader interesting, By this point I could appreciate some of the characters a bit more (surprisingly I really liked Nezha and Rin's relationship since it's more complex than just straight a enemies/friends/mentor/idol relationship that Rin has with other characters).
Overall I wished there was more focus on interpersonal relationships and more unique world building than just relying/repackaging Chinese history. I didn't know too much about this part of history but I would have preferred a more original story that was loosely inspired by real Chinese culture; I kept wondering if I was missing something by mostly missing the references to real foods/events/countries.
The story doesn't end in a cliff hanger per se, but there's a lot that unresolved. But when I finished the book I found that I didn't really care about what happened next. I won't be reading the other two books in a hurry.
