4.5☆

Epic, gritty and unashamedly dark - The Poppy War is everything I wanted it to be and more.

As always, I went in blind and was blown away by how vivid a picture that Kuang created, the immense world building, the 'magic' system, the realistic passing of time/gaining of abilities (anyone else hate how a normal girl turns assassin in a fortnight?!), and a likeable main character made for an engaging read that I struggled to put down. I've got a few thoughts and theories about book 2 that I'm hoping play out, but we shall see. It will be interesting to see how Rin manages her newfound status.

**Edited to add a warning about Chapter 21 - extremely graphic description of off page rape of children**