I will admit that I did not know nearly enough about the Second Sino-Japanese War before I read “The Poppy War“, but I took this as the occasion to correct this hole in my knowledge. This book does an excellent job of shining light on some of the atrocities of real wars committed in our history that some of us have never been exposed to before.

I immensely enjoyed the writing style and how beautifully the world was portrayed. This very descriptive writing style may be a struggle for readers who get triggered very easily; therefore, definitely read the trigger warnings before reading this book. It gets harsh and brutal and shows you the destructive force war really has, not just on infrastructure but also the horrors the civilians have to endure.

Rin is an incredibly facetious and interesting character, and you just want her to succeed after all she has been through. Her moral struggles are a consistent theme in the latter half of the story and get exceedingly prominently discussed, which offers such diverse insights into what humans can actually do to ourselves (minus the godlike fire powers, that is.)

This is a true masterpiece of a book.