Pages & Pressings

NO SPOILERS 🙂

This book was so good, I read it twice in one week.

The Poppy War is everything you want in a book: fast-paced action sequences, vivid sceneries, incredible world-building, and a cast of the most interesting characters.

While this is a work of fiction, anyone with an interest in history can glean it’s tie to historical events. The world of TPW is superimposed over 20th-century China, lending the setting to feel both grounded and mystical at the same time while staying true to the atrocities that occurred over several wars in the period. It’s the perfect balance of realism and fantasy that can capture both the history buffs and history haters alike. I’ve never read anything like it!

The characters might just be the most interesting part, though I’m partial to characters that are a hot mess. Every single character is morally gray, and if not entirely than at least at some point. Rin, our protagonist, is naive, self-centered, unrelenting, and hot-tempered but she’s also a war orphan who was thrown into the thick of war after fighting tooth-and-nail to escape a dreary future. It’s crucial to be able to navigate through this story with nuance, because the layers in this book are unending. Once you think you have something or someone understood, you don’t. These characters are so complex and I find the challenge of trying to understand them incredible refreshing. I will rave about this book to anyone that will listen.

Who I think would enjoy this book:

• Historical fiction lovers
• People who enjoy morally gray characters
• Fantasy lovers (especially lore/gods/fantastical powers)

Who I think would NOT enjoy this book:

• Those sensitive to the follower triggers: rape, death, self-harm, substance abuse, genocide, violence, war violence, murder
• People that can’t juggle characters/character names/place names (there are MANY)
• People who are not interested in reading about war