The Poppy War is BAD!!! Not just "OVERRATED" (The Poppy War Spoiler Free Review: By R.F. Kuang)
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- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2022
- This is the first negative review I have made. It was difficult because I wanted to like this book so much and I have so much respect for what the author was trying to do. So, this is a video where I give my reasonings behind WHY I didn't like this book.
Let me know if you agree or disagree with me. Am I missing something? Let me know in the comments below!
A special thank you to all my subscribers! You're the best!
I'll take your Poppy War slander PERSONAL 🤺🤺
Love this post lol thanks for watching the video! Are you a fan of the Poppy war trilogy, or just the first book? Also, do you think the series gets better or worse as it goes on?
Well, i Am an fan of the first and second book, and i think, that while the second book(the dragon republic) was a bit better than the first one, the third book(the burning god) was pretty much very rushed, and got worse than the first two
That's my opinion though
@@janinagrajewska7885Personally I think in the end it might have been rushed the most and so was the third book maybe overall and ended kinda abrubtly. Like there was kind of an empty space when it ended
I didn't feel like this book was written for backstory; the main premise of the series is Kuang trying to understand how someone like Mao zedong, a backwoods farmboy, turns into a dictator, so its a corruption arc at its core. Most people may hate Mao, but when we're seeing the events through rin's eyes (genocide, rape, starvation, etc) we get insight into mao's dictatorship. In this first book we're supposed to understand how someone becomes comfortable and justifies using violence to end violence, so its key in understanding the progression of Mao's corruption & the cycle of colonization. Rin (and mao) are given more complexity instead of willowing them down to sociopaths.
Honestly, if you don't like this book I can't really seeing you enjoying the rest of the series. I'm a hardcare fan, and even I had a ton of issues with book 3 lol
I agree with you that I don’t think it was written to be a backstory, only that it FELT like a backstory. I also agree with you about the points she was trying to make about Mao. However, I do not feel she accomplished her goal in this book and it was because her writing lacked consistency and depth in character. My opinion is that the story she wanted to tell was an amazing and brilliant idea for a story, but that she did not execute it in a way that did it justice, and that it is a poorly written book.
I also know I am in the minority here. I believe popular books are popular for a reason, and that more than likely, she is an excellent writer and this book probably just didn’t click for me. But with my initial read through, I felt the writing was not good enough to be published. It needed to be sent back to her a dozen more times.
Thank you for the excellent conversation though! I love discussing different opinions of books 😁
Counterpoint I felt Rin FELT like a YA protagonist dropped into a grimdark novel. Her characterization was not well executed. She just doesn't fit into the story. On top of bad military tactics despite the military using the equivalent of the art of war, poor character relationships, recycled tropes, and various other issues. This book was a failure to launch. The ONLY think I liked was the actual history being used.
Agreed. I think every authors worst nightmare is the thought that someone else could write their story better. And with Kuang, I can 100% say that this idea was brilliant, but she just didn’t have the talent (or her editing and publishing teams let her down) to pull it off.
I agree with everything you said. I read these books and I have to say overall I liked the story, or more so the “idea” of the story she was trying to convey, but the book was not that great. It was at best a 3/5, possibly a 4/5 if you force yourself to look past the odd grammatical structures/ writing and lack of character development especially between Nezha and Rin. They literally went from enemies to lovers in like 3-4 sentences. It was odd.
Yes! Agree 100%
The two examples that you have mentioned about the telling rather than showing of the relationship Rin had with her adoptive brother and first tutor are symptoms of what I think is the biggest issue with the book. That is, it breezes past important character moments in order for the story to be where the author wants it to be instead of where the characters should be. It's not that those moments are missing in the books. They were there. They just weren't as fleshed out as they should be. It feels like Kuang cut off so much from the story it started to lose some of the essential parts
I think I agree with that. The book had the correct formula for a great story, I just don’t feel it was executed as well as the praise makes it seem like it did.
They were cut out because its from Rins point of view and she doesn’t see mentioned people as important thats why the book isn’t talking about them it’s supposed to flesh iut how Rin thinks and it does that really well
@@Sunny67855I’m in the middle of reading it now but if Rin doesn’t view these people as important, why does the face stealer use her little brother’s face. Why not just use Alten’s face from the start. Why does she even have a little brother at all, she could’ve just had a mentor that she never thinks about again.
The prose definitely had a YA feel and it really took me out of the story. A lot of of the dialogue had me facepalming. I understand the writer is young, but I mean dialogue that basically says “you’re acting like a little bitch” , “sorry I was a being a dick” .. it just comes across as amateurish and lazy to be honest. For the amazing reviews this got, I expected much more quality.
I agree! And I hate that I agree, because this story had the highest potential of any story I have read I think. And I don’t even think that it’s necessarily the authors fault. I blame the publisher more than anyone because they should have seen the potential, and keep sending it back until it had met that potential. We would have ended up with a better book, and Kuangs skill increasing at the same time.
I agree and disliked the book. I don't mind the YA tropes. But to me this was simply a boring read. It felt like something I had read many times before. I felt the grim dark part of story was just a description of horror and gore but not the overall darkness and weight of setting I associate with grim dark. What I liked least is the break-neck pace. The relationships felt like they were not fleshed out. The power ups of the main character were super quick and felt undeserved. She is out of school before you get a chance to remember the names of the roommates. I thoroughly disliked it. It is a highschool YA novel posing as a grim dark fantasy.
I agree with you 100%!! But my biggest complaint is that I hated Kuangs writing. I don’t think she had the skill to pull of what she was trying to do.
Having said that, she is a best selling author that has probably sold millions of books by now, so she is obviously doing something right lol I just don’t care for her writing at all.
Thanks for watching and commenting!!! Happy to have you on the channel :)
I thought the sequels were even worse. I sort of enjoyed 'The Poppy War', but I was really craving some more depth. The lack of age diversity also made it feel like YA to me. There is just something unbelievable in a couple of teenagers having to save everyone: where are my veterans at?!
So anyway.... the sequels did not improve upon that for me. Characters became more and more unlikeable, and plotlines just went astray (for me) or were underutilised (heavy build-up but no real pay-off kind of thing).
I am curious about Babel though🙃
Ah! That’s too bad to hear. I have considered trying to read Babel first to see if she improves as a writer, and if I enjoy it, then go bad to number 2 and 3 of poppy wars.
Hi, i know the response is rather late but i still wanted to explain things the best I can. So the reason they are all teenagers it's because they are part of the Cike. As we know the Cike is composed of Shamans who take drugs to awaken their powers but that also come with a price. They get consumed by drugs and their powers so sooner or later they become mad incapable of reason. It also refered in the book as having a god inside your body therefore the person becomes a vessel sharing a body with a supernatural entity. Anyways, my point is that the Cike do not grow old, Altan said during their journey to the mountain that they either die in battle or get imprisoned in the stone mountain for eternity. So that's why they are all young, it is a profession in which they cannot grow old.
nah i think a couple of teenagers is more likely to save everyrone than old people
I think this review is too kind, the Poppy Wars is easily in my bottom 5 books I have ever read. The prose was overly simplistic, the character's emotional responses inconsistent, and the war tactics dumb. Even worse was the ham-fisted use of Nanjing Massacre + Unit 731 references. It felt like cheap props to make the young adult fiction more "edgy".
If you want to read a book with a strong female lead and competent military tactics, I recommend Deeds of Paksenarrion.
I need to make an updated video of my least favorite books of all time, because like you, this has to be one of the worst.
As I’ve dipped my toe deeper and deeper into the fantasy genre, the more and more I see how poorly this book was written. To the point I have no idea how it made it past editing. For a while, the comments had me questioning my decision on whether or not I was going to give the author another shot, either by reading book 2 or babel. But the more I read the more I realize how poor the writing is.
Thanks for watching and the support!! More videos to come soon
Saddens me that every negative rewiew of this book needs a disclaimer that it's maybe not for me, even with all it's objective shortcomings. But I understand why. Every negative review I see online is filled with hate comments calling the reviewer racist and sexist.
Personally as a half blooded Chinese living in a poor country in Asia, I just find it interesting to see the snap defense of young americans for a wealthy Chinese-American against any sort of criticism. It just looks like privileged people want to appear supportive of a female asian author.
And the fact that she even copy pasted a Sun Tzu anecdote and changed his name to a different person in her book is infuriating.
I haven't read this book, so I have no personal view on it one way or the other. But I appreciate a review where someone says they didn't like a book and gives specific, and writing-based reasons why. People just saying, "I didn't like it", or even, "It was boring", but not explaining why is not really a review. It doesn't help a potential reader who may be considering the book.
Yes! Saying it’s bad isn’t enough. I want to know why it’s bad? Maybe it’s a taste thing? But if it’s quality of the writing, then I want to know that too.
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I think this is one of the best books about “war” that I’ve read, I do agree that in the first book relationships are kinda rough but I feel like that’s Rin herself If the relationships are superficial it’s because Rin genuinely does not care about the person.
You should read the dragon republic so you can see how in fact Rin is a very consistent character.
Right when I feel like I have decided not to finish this trilogy, you come along and make a valid argument to continue lol
If this is a good book about war, then thank history. Renaming places isn't worldbuilding in my opinion.
Just finished The Poppy War today. I absolutely loved it! This type of writing is what I love. Reading the dragon Republic now! It's even more amazing ❤️
I am definitely an outlier on this book. I have a pet peeve where I have to finish series I start, so I may end up reading the dragon republic even though I disliked the poppy war. Also, I would love to see if her writing improved from the first book to the second book. I love seeing growth in authors!
@@NICKREADSFANTASY agreed :3
Gross. This book sucks
@@zeb760 Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine
Reading this book I was thinking of Name of the Wind ALOT. But boy the next 2 books could not be more different. It definitely shows that this is her first books, she is still figuring a lot of stuff out. They definitely aren’t my favorite and there are several issues through the whole thing that make me mad (or maybe frustrated is a better word) But even after a few months after finishing I find myself thinking on Rin and the events of that series. So while it would be fairly low in my all time rankings it 100% had an impact on me and my reading. She has my interest and am excited for what she can do as she improves and gets better. She certainly has a very unique perspective and gives me exposure to Chinese history that is difficult for me to get into most times.
So I’m definitely excited to see what she does with more books. I can’t say I would ever re read the series. It is quite a depressing and grim dark series. But I really like that just not for comfort re reads lmao.
Nice video. I think you should finish the series it’s pretty wild how different is from the first one.
I definitely think I’m going to finish the series. It’s one of my pet peeves, but I am also eager to see a writer develop from a novice to an expert!
I agree about the Chinese history. After I read the first book I went all into the wars this series is based on. I think her knowledge base can bring a lot to fantasy, I just don’t think she her writing skills were good enough to tell her amazing ideas. I am also in the minority on this though, and she probably DOES have the skill, and it probably just didn’t click for me.
And thanks for the praise! This is the only book I have done a negative review on so far and I was hoping to be fair about it.
I actually re-shelved this book a little ways passed Part 2. I'll go back to finish it in a few weeks, but I don't think I'll read anymore of this series. I was just browsing Goodreads and see mostly 4 and 5 star reviews. I felt like I was missing something with this book. Everything with it seems flat. There's really no intrigue to keep me super engaged. Feels better to find someone who shares my opinion.
Yes! You bring up excellent points! I get a lot of people telling me to give it another shot, but idk, I think the writing itself was just too poor. Glad to know someone else feels the same way
I feel seen by you. You have saved my life basically.
I thought I was alone before this comment lol glad to see I’m not the only one.
Thanks for the comment! Every subscriber and interaction helps this small channel grow! Thank you! :)
My biggest issue with this book was the author herself inserting how we should feel about Rin and her choices. Throughout the book, her only positive interactions are with Kitay and Jiang, but for some reason Rin LOVES Nezha and Altan. why? because they are beautiful. doesn't matter how terrible they are or how much Rin despises them, she wants to follow them. why? because Kuang puts in these hyperbolic lines like "because she loved him, she neeeeedddeeeeed him!" or whatever. Does she???? i don't think sooooo.
Felt like this happened almost every chapter.
Show us who Rin is and why she feels a certain way. Dont just say it. Its very contradictory throughout the entire story.
Some say, "well you aren't SUPPOSED to like Rin." Well, Kuang didn't write this story well enough to make me believe that.
The core issue with this book for many :) thanks for watching and supporting the channel :) happy to have you here
Everything is on point. I understand the superficial relationship. Like with Nezcha, at the beginning of the novel their relationship is superficial but later on they sounded like close friends. Also, the time gaps. Her training to Sinegard and then her training with Jiang. We didn't see much of character development. We saw results.
Agree! I wish I liked the book more because I love everything the author was trying to do, I just felt like she didn’t execute it very well.
Book 1 is definitely a little rough around the edges, but I still enjoyed the story overall. I particularly enjoyed to see how RF Kuang's writing style and focus advanced in book 2 and book 3.
I don't think it makes sense to judge a book by tropes; tropes are a part of human nature and almost every story can be labeled as a combination of tropes. If you focus too much what is similar about a book to other things, you might lose sight of what unique things the author had done.
Although it has been 2 years since the 3rd book, the characters (especially Rin) and the story really stick with me. I am partially inspired and forewarned by Rin's desperate ambition. I can't really explain why, but the third book in particular reminds me of Mao's Great Swim (the one he *supposedly* broke an Olympic swimming record), and the Cultural Revolution. Maybe its similar to how Rin had internally struggled with the Absurd by clawing a mark in history?
Thank you for this input! I agree with many of your points. Also, I’m a huge fan of tropes! I think tropes have a purpose and are important part of literature. But I think of you use a trope it’s your responsibility to make me see your story for what it is, instead of it taking me out of the story and thinking of another book. I don’t feel she accomplished this in her book. But that’s also just my POV
This is interesting because I thought the writing quality tanked in book 2. We got so much repetitive language, uncreative scenes, and so much more childish dialogue
I agree with everything you said here. I did not like this book either. I read Poppy War soon after it was released and I never continued the series. I almost never dnf a book but i will definitely dnf a series. You explained your negative points really well.
Thank you! I am probably going to at least read book 2 just to see if her writing improves, but if it doesn’t, it may be the first series I dnf.
this is strange, after I watched your video I still want to read this book to have my own opinion, and plus: I am joing your channel because I really liked your review lol
Welcome to the channel! And definitely give it a shot and see if you agree or disagree. I am the first to say that I am a huge believer that popular books are popular for a reason. This book may just not have clicked for me.
I think this is the healthier thing to do always: if it interests you somehow, read it and reflect on your own experience
Hello! I watched this video because I'm writing an essay about The Poppy War and the history it's based on, and wanted to see the negative reviews of it. But, it was actually a good viewpoint and input even from a side I don't agree with. And I really went in to this video thinking I would not like it cause it would just be personal preference, but I definitely understand where you're coming from. It is definitely heavy on the backstory but I always love that cause I feel it helps me connect to the characters more. And I think it was mainly to help create the characters but also to set up for the next 2 books and the character development Rin goes through. I think the way the characters interacted could have been set up better, like you said, to make the connections they formed deeper. But I thought it highlighted how harsh of a life Rin has/had and how it's affected her ability to form genuine connections. I saw a lot of it as Rin's emotional detachment from the trauma, abuse, and later on, from the war. I do remember her and her teacher never got along which could have been expanded on better and how that connection got so strong later on. And with her adoptive brother it was a quick switch to how she acted with him and the monster. I've re-read it a few times though and this last time I really deep dived into the history behind it. I think a lot of the relationships not being there and the characters not having connections was to back up the history. I thought since it's mainly Rin's point of view, and she's based on Mao Zedong that it made sense to me how disconnected it was. I think it could have done better to be emotional in the beginning and then have the falling apart. But Rin is 100% a more morally gray, apathetic character. I definitely read it with a historical interest too on my last read so it kinda changed how I saw the story. It did have a lot of tropes too, but I always love the school ones and how we got to actually see the classes and training.
Also, love that you talked people just sticking books into YA. I really liked her prose too, it made it very enjoyable to read. But YES sooo many books with strong female leads they like to stick into YA and it is so annoying. I don't think The Poppy War should be considered YA, as the amount of triggers and violence in it is so much.
But this was a great video and I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts! There are definitely some problems with the book and ways it could have been better.
The Poppy War is my favorite series and I personally feel like it just got better as it went on. The second book is probably my favorite and I know a lot of people didn't like the third, but I absolutely loved it and how it ended.
I don't know if you've read the next 2 books but I'd love to hear what you thought of them if you did! :))
This was great input! Thank you for sharing! I agree with the effect this book has had on getting people interested in the historical effects that inspired it. And I think the book improves when viewed through this aspect. I have been considering giving this first book a reread to see if I judged it too harshly in the first place
You must have not read a lot of books if poppy war is your favorite series. There is literally no prose pacing or character building.
New Subscriber! I 100% agree with you here I have even more complaints than you I think LOL ...I also tried Dragon Republic and it was a fast DNF
Hey Andrew! I was literally just checking out one of your videos lol thanks for subscribing :) I have been torn on whether or not to continue with the series. Was my original read a fluke? Does her writing improve? But recently, I’ve decided I’ve got way too many books to read to even think of continuing this story. I did not like it, at all. So, onto other stories I may actually enjoy :)
Did you ever finish the series? What did you think of the last one?
Thank you for the comment! No, I haven’t finished the series, and have actually decided not to for at least a few years. Reading so many new authors in the past few years of BookTube makes this book even worse in my mind, because the comparison highlights how bad the writing was (maybe only first book?)
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@@NICKREADSFANTASY the last one has all the problems of this book but even worse. It's advantages were that it's so so off the walls and the book just kept telling you what happened that you never know what's gonna happen next because it has very little internal consistency, it's such a bonkers ride that the book can just say that rin took over half of China over the course of 2 chapters and you just have to say, yeah ok I guess that happened. Meanwhile rin suddenly had all these experiences at the academy and atlan that she's so fond about that we never got to see, because if we did then rin would maybe have an emotional backbone besides for tough girl wants to be a general. It's really an insane book.
That would infuriate me if I had continued with the story lol this comment made my day! Thank you!
Hated this book series. The writing was terrible, none of the characters or relationships are developed properly, and the story is a mix of stolen ideas and real life events.
Glad I’m not the only one. Thank you for the comment!
I agree on the point about the relationships not being there, and especially with the idea that this was really a prequel to what she wanted to write. Some parts were good, but this book wasn’t it for me. I loved books 2 an d 3 though. Some of my favorites.
I’m eager to see if I enjoy the second and third books more than the first
why do relationships have to be there
Great level headed review that wasn’t throwing insults. You gave genuine criticism and acknowledged a possibility that you might just be an outlier. Doesn’t make you wrong tho! Every opinion on a piece of art is valid in my opinion.
I would give it a solid 5/10, I agree with you that there were major execution problems and it was very tropey, but overall the setting and the explicit depictions of war made it compelling enough for me to finish, also there were **some** really good scenes but the book overall fell short. Don’t know if I’ll read the rest though. I think Rin is one of my least favorite protagonists in a long time and I just don’t want to spend another two books in her POV personally.
I don’t mind unlikeable protagonists. I just read Lord Fouls Bain which makes Rin look like a saint, and I think that book is 5/5 stars. My main problem was with the writing. The story was very inconsistent from beginning to end.
Thank you for the comment and support!
@@NICKREADSFANTASY of course man. I’m an aspiring writer myself. I finished poppy war and searched reviews and found yours. Glad I did, you seem thoughtful and intelligent, looking forward to going through your videos. Also If that accountability group is still ongoing I might be interested
@@milkman2266 group is still going but I am leaving for rotating interviews over the next few months so we will probably be inactive for a while. Email me if your interested in hearing more!
I did have a giggle at what you described as "school tropes" when i literally experienced these things in college 😂 i had rich classmates that act like they own the place, professors that took pride in students not being able to pass the exams, tenure professors that just rest on their laurels and don't bother preparing for class, etc. I see them as authors referencing real life experience that they probably went through rather than copying each other's tropes.
As to what you have missed, possibly the rich references to Chinese culture and history that many English speaking readers would not have read in detail before. I saw many people say this story inspiring them to look deeper into the Chinese experience during WWII. But it's not like every person is obligated to learn every culture that they're not part of. If you're not feeling it, it's OK. However if you're interested in more female led fantasy with an East Asian cultural reference, maybe try The Bone Shard Daughter trilogy? I find the characters there more likeable.
I didn’t miss the references, I just think her writing was poor. It had extremely poor internal consistency in plot and characters, and not up to par with what I think should be published.
But like I said, she is a best selling author, so she has to be doing something right.
And yes, I too have experienced these “tropes”. I wasn’t bothered by them, and it might have been my favorite part of the book.
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@@NICKREADSFANTASY I came into it knowing the history and honestly, it just wasn't very compelling, she introduces these historical events apparently ripped wholesale and it shows. It creates inconsistencies in the world whenever she does it, the tech level is all over the place and it really seems like she didn't even know whether this was supposed to be a swords and boards fantasy setting or a Victorian vs medieval. IE she mentions the Speely being firebombing a few times, like what? Planes are never mentioned and this was never explained, its not like you could firebomb an island with hand grenades so I mean tf? Imo the historical references were shoehorned in, and they should have either been adapted to the world more or cut entirely and replaced with their own versions in the Poppy War world. She gets so focused on including these events that it makes figuring out what's happening in THE Poppy world very difficult if not impossible, the geography and actual happenings of the siege for example were pretty much nonsensical, and completely unexplained. Ig the reason most people found the book so compelling is because they thought history was boring and didn't already know about these events, so it added a mystique? Idk I found the whole thing underwhelming and poorly written too. Thanks for reading my rant lol
@@pigman-nl7fg of course!! Love to hear what others are thinking. I think the idea for this story had huge potential, but needed kuang to be a more veteran writer before attempting to accomplish this.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I enjoyed the first book for the most part. I wasn't as compelled to continue the series as others seem to be. I might go back to it later. I really did expect much more from it after the reviews I had seen.
I thought about continuing for a while there, but I honestly have too many books to read from authors I like. Maybe in the far far future.
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(Spoilers!!!!!!!!) Agree with everything you said. Especially about the characters. I don’t feel any kind of connection to the cike. But it feels as if we are supposed to care deeply then and as if Rin has this deep connection to them. I also feel like some of the scenes were extremely cliché and the tropes as well.
Exactly!!! Thanks for the comment and the support :)
Two words:
Golyn Nis
Did we read the same book? Im genuinely confused by your review.. I loved it. Finished the first in two days. For being my first introduction to grimdark fantasy im excited to read more 🤷🏼♀️
I sometimes wonder based off others comments lol I literally checked to see if I bought an abridged version. But alas, I did not.
There are lots of popular books that are not good. Something being popular doesn't automatically mean it's good, unfortunately. I hated poppy war, it was pretentious and a bit propaganda :)
Say it louder! Lol agree with you about poppywar and that a popular book doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good, but I do believe that popular books are USUALLY popular for a reason. Typically that reason is that they are good. I feel like that is not the case for this book.
Thanks for watching and all the support!
Agree with everything you said!! I think she dragged in the beginning & rushed at the end.
I thought the potential of this story was amazing! And I thought the beginning was actually good, until the inconsistencies of character started popping up.
Yea this book was like Mortal Kombat meets Harry Potter. R.F. Kuang has done her homework, and came out with an Amazing Original story. I really enjoyed this book. It sucks you didn't, but everyone has their own opinion.
Like yourself, I was incredibly excited for this book. Kaung, in interviews, struck me as smart and passionate, and the book's description sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, I was really disappointed. The Poppy War reads like exactly what it is: the debut novel by a young, inexperienced (not even a published short story prior to this book) first-time author, who took 3 months to write it. As I said in another youtube comment, the following is a terribly pretentious thing to say, but the only thing I can figure: if someone thinks TPW is a *good* book, meaning a well-crafted, original, internally consistent, thematically rich book with complex characters (and not simply an enjoyable read, which is entirely subjective), I can only assume that person has not read many books.
I considered that for a while as well! However, one of the reasons I started reading this book in the first place was because I saw Petrick Leo give this book almost a perfect score, and he reads way more than I do lol
And holy cow! I had no idea she wrote it in only three months (I mean, it show's, but I had no idea). That is a red flag in itself. I think the rejection and revision process is part of a novice writer becoming a great writer. If she didn't have this thing sent back to her a dozen times, then it would have been more difficult for her to hone her skills.
And the layout definitely makes me think taking a few more months to lay everything out would have helped.
Thanks for the great convo by the way! I appreciate the discussion!
Babel definitely has the problem of not showing but telling, so I don't know if I would pick it up if I were you
Someone else recently told me that as well! I need to pin a comment on the top comment, but I have essentially decided not to continue with books written by kuang. I thought the book was way too poorly written to continue with how many great authors I have on my TBR. Thanks for watching! We are happy to have you on the channel :)
I like you was super excited to get into this book .. I am about done with it and am really just finishing it to finish it. But I DO NOT LIKE THIS BOOK AT ALL .. and for one reason .. Rin .. point blank .. she is a very annoying, childish, extremely immature, inconsiderate and inconsistent character. I found myself rolling my eyes and groaning so many times after she opened her mouth to “speak her mind” only to get those words force fed back down her throat and then completely run back down that hill she chose to die on 5 minutes later .. she literally felt like an annoying immature little brat and I hated her by the time she got to the Psych.. definitely not gonna read the other 2 books seeing that everyone is saying her character is “extremely consistent” .. fuck that
I 2nd everything you said lol
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It is overrated but not in the way you suggest. The book is really just a mash-up of My Hero Agamoto and the Legends of Korra. It is an enjoyable ride but not any better than a decent bit of an animated series.
Thank you for your input! I am someone who can usually appreciate and enjoy classic stories/tropes told in a different and unique way and, now that you mention it, I can see some legend of Korra in here. However, I still think its big issue is her writing skill. I think her story was full of inconsistencies, poor character development, and rushed. I think if these things were overcome, I could probably get past, or even appreciate, similarities to other works.
But thank you for your input! I love talking about the books I read! :)
I thought this book was bad too. The first half was okay, but it went down hill when the war started. I also thought twilight was bad, but it was so popular that it got four movies. Some people just tolerate bad writing more so than others.
Oof. This will get me in trouble with you, but I think Twilight is the opposite of this book.
The premise of poppy wars is amazing. I went into this book excited for everything about it. The magic system, the school, the historical crossovers, it checked all the boxes. But the writing is terrible and inconsistent.
Twilights premise is stupid. It doesn’t sound interesting. Truly hatable characters. I was forced to read it in high school by my mother before she would buy me inheritance. And yet, I believe the writing in Twilight is amazing. The characters are awful, but well written, consistent, and fleshed out. It’s a stupid romance for high school kids that don’t understand love or the world, but managed to capture the readers across the world and age gaps. AND… she did it without making it corn. I know I’m not supposed to like twilight, but it’s honestly one of my favs of all time.
Hope that doesn’t taint your opinion of the channel lol but honestly is my policy 😅
I'm with you buddy
❤️❤️❤️
“Don’t worry about it, just enjoy the book… if you can” 😂😂 ok it wasn’t that bad. I loved the the first half, the author builds a lot of potential for rin and exciting pathways the story can follow, personally I wanted more political backstabbing, depth in other characters, kitay i agree with in his condemnation of rin at the end. Jiang was thrown aside at the end. ( I don’t know why). I liked the spin of gods not being responsible for human actions but it doesn’t make sense since all shamans eventually go crazy because of gods. So there are some loose ends, but give the author a chance. Judge for yourself after reading it. Just enjoy the book, it’s deviates from the typical fantasy genre in interesting way. Also checkout “the sword of kaigen “ I will always love this book
I’ve heard great things about the Sword of Kiagan!! I have it in my Audible library :)
However, as far as poppy wars go, I stand by my review and after reading more and more books, I see how truly awful the writing is. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of the story, the plot is amazing. Kuang simply did not have the skill set to pull it off. This book couldve been great if her editors sent her back 15 times instead of publishing inconsistent and novice work. That’s my opinion and I’m standing by it.
But like I said in the review, she is a bestselling author that has probably sold millions of books by now, so she is obviously doing something correctly. I personally just hated this book lol
Thanks for watching and the comment! We are happy to have you on the channel :)
I’ve heard similar criticisms before, and it’s kinda why I probably won’t read it. I say probably because who knows, years from now I could really want to read it. I don’t read lots of modern popular works, they’re often over hyped and lots of reviewers can’t look deeply into a book at all, which is to say I can’t trust them.
I honestly couldn’t believe what I was reading. It had such high praise, but literally read like a first draft.
What are some of your favorite reads?
@@NICKREADSFANTASY It’s probably a good thing I don’t read a ton of modern and popular stuff. Too many favorites but this year my favorites have been Gurzil by I, Anonymous, Fafhrd and Gray Mouser books by Leiber, Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, and Sun Eater by Christopher Ruocchio. Plus too many to regale you with here.
@@LiamsLyceum I have been hearing a ton about Sun Eater, and I have Book of the New Sun on my classic fantasy TBR list. I actually just made a video on it lol I don't have Leiber high on my list yet, but he is on there.
@@NICKREADSFANTASY All great ones, I hope you enjoy
The relationships that bugs me are nezha and Rin
Yes! In a lot of my reviews I mention that I think an authors ability to write character is what makes or breaks a book. Their relationships, interactions, consistency, thought processes, all these things need to be on point and in my opinion, is what the poppy war lacks.
They didn't fit I would have made Kitay not aromantic and asexual because Rin had the best dynamic with him Nezha should have ended without any gf and I would have coupled Altan and Venka but why Rin and Nezha why????
I’m so glad we agree! This book was ridiculously bad - the protagonist did not MAKE SENSE!
Yes!! Thank you for the support! What’s your favorite book of all time?
Interesting take
Thanks for watching!
@@NICKREADSFANTASY yeah man for sure I'm going through all your stuff and good luck right in your first fantasy novel I want to do the same thing!
@@jaredkay6970 it’s very slow going lol life keeps getting in the way but outline has been completed and the first few chapters have a rough draft. Hope I get to continue later this/early next year :)
Best fantasy I’ve read in years
I hear that a ton! I often wonder if I just had a bad experience with it during my first read or if it really was as bad as I thought it was. Thank you for watching!
Omg, thank you!!!! Didn’t enjoy it at all ☹️
It’s nice to know I’m not alone! Glad you liked the video :) thank you for your support
spoilers be here
Mistborn is by no means a YA. Just wanna drop that here. I agree on everything about poppy war. Very disappointing for me. Rin is a stupid character... Overconfident about literally everything, always. Always thinks she knows better than anybody else. Cannot hear a word of logic, cause God forbid anybody knows better than her, and they always do, because she is an idiot. It was obnoxious to read, really. "I know that just capturing these people is the best way to rule them afterwards, but f**k it, I don't care about afterwards, so whatever." So d u m b. That was probably the worst thing about the book for me. I couldn't identify with the main character at all, because she was little more than angry algae, just being pointlessly angry at everything, all the time. Near the end, that ending was the only ending that made any sense at all. Any other ending couldn't have really even been possible, except for mass destruction :/
I agree with you about Mistborn lol I do think they were smart to remarket it that way however. It’s a great way to reach a younger audience and sell more Cosmere books lol now, Mistborn is in YA and general fantasy. It was a brilliant marketing move.
With the poppy war, I am ok reading about characters I hate or can’t see things their way, I just don’t feel the author did a great job making her real. I always knew I was reading a book. AND like you said, the only consistent part of her character were her flaws.
"I can't do X without going into spoilers" yeah and I hate spoiler free reviews, so make another video where you spoil it all. Do that + experiment to make your voice less "boxy" and I think that can raise the quality by a lot.
I for sure need to get my audio figured out 😁 I just can’t spend money on a mic and camera right now.
I also might be combining the spoiler and spoiler free reviews. I think that not discussing spoilers can take away from the video. But I also want people who are considering picking the book up to see it as well.
Thanks for your input and support of the channel! We are happy to have you here!
Strap in, you’re all gonna wanna hear this.
R.F. Kuang lifted Chinese history and put her own name on it for cloud and money - money despite her already being extremely rich and spoiled by her wealthy family.
I graduated in Chinese history & language and I recognise every single detail and event in the Poppy War as something straight out of a history book. If R.F. Kuang had just marketed her book as historical fiction with fantasy elements, instead of calling it grimdark high fantasy, she would have solved one of the problems there are with this book.
Because there is BARELY any fantasy, and the only thing that makes this book grimdark is people getting killed in various gruesome ways, (all of which are ways people in the Nanjing massacre suffered). Her book is by definition very low fantasy, by virtue of not having any fantasy element other than a few mythological Gods.
In addition, it’s a stretch to call it grimdark, If ANYTHING it's gritty. Nowadays authors just slap on the grimdark label if their book is a bit darker and/or grittier than what is perceived as the genre-average for a marketing advantage.
How can it be made clear that this book is at best an ATTEMPT of writing in the grimdark genre? This book's atmosphere and tone does not reflect that of grimdark. It’s such an empty, shallow creature that it’s hard to imagine the publishing and marketing team ever thinking “Hey, this isn’t a pretentious, failed Frankenstein of an attempt at literature, this should definitely get published, despite the fact all of our sensitivity readers said they finally DNF’ed it as soon as they realised R.F. Kuang was name-dropping irl Chinese philosophers, warriors, places etc. to make it obvious it’s China nuking Japan as if they didn’t have enough trauma in regards to being nuked.”
The biggest fault of not meeting the good-book quota lies in her prose. If you notice, the prose is that of a poorly written fanfiction. The only rhetoric device she knows how to use is an Inception-movie amount of triades where you have three words acting as the triad in a sentence, the sentence being in a triad with two other sentences, who are also in a triad with two other paragraphs. Even if this was intentional, it would be an extremely poor decision proving her lack of understanding and ability as an author; for it becomes a huge fucking thing of repetition so blinding you can't enjoy the fucking story-which there by the way- ISN’T ANY OF.
Is the plot in the room with us?
The book shouldn't start out as a YA academia fanfiction of the real world, and then literally do a sudden and jarring jump halfway through to finally attempt to live up to its promise as a grimdark high fantasy novel, but then also fail miserably at that when it’s so obvious it’s just R.F. Kuang herself, sucking her own dick under the disguise as said grimdark high fantasy novel.
And the only subtext this book has is stupid ass intertextuality of just claiming the hype for real existing things, persons and concepts. R.F. Kuang just slaps on different names for China and Japan etc. so she can have deniability when the real world Japanese question why she decided to have [SPOILER INCOMING] Rin annihilate the entirety of Japan. Hmm, that seems a bit disgusting and manipulative, don’t you think?
It's the same as the Chinese writing fanfiction about murdering every single innocent person in America, or any other country for what matters. What fucking message does that send to people? Especially when it's framed in the story as 'not that bad of a thing' and even the right thing.
It seems like R.F. Kuang's personal issues against the Japanese are getting in her way of creating something worth reading. Which isn’t even the last time her racism has greatly inspired the course of action for her published books. Because all of her other works are also centred around how all white and Japanese people are these evil world-conquering monsters, forgetting that every single powerful enough society-no matter such trivial thing as their ethnicity-have been down that same route.
Babel and Yellowface specifically target 'white people', because that's apparently a race now, and R.F. Kuang is using her cloud to promote hate on them, and in the Poppy War the Japanese, because of her own prejudices. She deliberately creates scapegoat white and Japanese characters so she can force them to do something bad, and sometimes not even bad, just in order to somewhat narratively justify torturing them to make her panties wet. You can be certain she spends her days daydreaming about going back in time and becoming Rin just so she can annihilate Japan and take a huge shit on everybody/everything else that she does not understand or respect. It's the wet fantasies she wakes up with in the morning. It’s fucking disgusting.
If you sincerely enjoy this very problematic author and her work, you are a sheep being herded. Stay woke, don’t drop your crown being enthralled by her elite ass: the epitome of “I only became a best-selling author because my gold-mine of a mommy and daddy bought 60.000 copies of my debut novel and put them in a warehouse somewhere.” Those poor books now collect dust as they long about being trees again, tortured by having her ugly ass prose and hateful prejudices tattooed on their sad massacred bodies.
Very interesting perspective I haven’t heard before! My main issue with the book was that the writing was poor, and not necessarily the content. But maybe it becomes problematic with more context? I would love to hear you interview the author and listen to the discussion the comes from it.
Thanks for the comment and welcome to the channel :)
👍👍👍🤖🚀
Thank you for your support! Glad you enjoyed!
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Totally agree… not overhyped, but bad. I even read books 2 and 3 to see if they would redeem the 1st book… they did not. To add insult to injury, I find the author insufferable. I’ve watched multiple interviews of her’s, and she comes off incredibly ungrateful and entitled. So much of success in art comes down to timing and luck, and she pays zero recognition to the fortune she has had. I appreciate that some/many people like the series, but the book and the author were a total dud for me.
Ah! Thats too bad to hear. I was going to finish books 2 and 3 because I have a pet peeve that I have to finish series I start, but this doesn't make me want too lol. I like seeing how authors develop and grow in their writing skill as they publish more and more books. But if no one points out the flaws, then maybe they can't improve? I haven't watched any interviews with the author, so I cannot say I have seen the same. But I am very happy to know I am not the only one that see's the issues in this book! Thanks for watching and for the support on the channel!
completey disagree. she's talked multiple times about how fucked it is that she's been able to make money off of the suffering her grandparents endured. (specifically her interview with tochi where they talk about how their books are based off of atrocities (in china and africa) and how as americans they're removed from that trauma while profiting from it)
her next book is literally about how privileged it is that people like her are able to focus on studying or creating art in world of material struggle, its a critique on academia as a privileged institution. i can see why someone might think rebecca is pretentious, but I wouldn't call her entitled. she's well aware of her privilege
Nah, it was amazing.
That’s a popular opinion (the wrong opinion, but a popular one).
Thanks for watching and the comment!
I get that it's obviously incredibly borrowed from Asian history,but people absolutely need to stop saying that it's literally set in China, ruined the immersion for me