Wow.

I'm actually entirely speechless right now. I don't know what to think about this book. There were so many positive elements, but then it was so dark and haunting at times.

Full Review:

The Poppy War was a book I'd heard lots about and I was immediately curious because it combined many elements that I am interested in: mythology, fantasy, and history. The book draws on east Asian cultural ideas and themes and appears to be alluding somewhat to the historical tension and warfare between Japan and China (as a history student, there were so many strong references to comfort women who were abused and massacres of civilians and soldiers). However, the book sets itself apart from this history by drawing in the fantasy elements of shamanism, of gods, of mythical powers and this is what made it readable because frankly there were some very dark moments in this book. This book is not for the faint-hearted, it is NOT young-adult material, but it is worth the read.

The premise is based on the young Rin, who battles here way to the most prestigious military academy Sinegard. Here she must battle against the prejudice of both her masters and her fellow students towards her dark-skin and peasant background. This book is excellent in the way it tackled issues of ethnicity, class, origin and education. Kuang showed Rin as a very strong, if not very disturbed young girl who managed to battle her way through the academy and show incredible fortitude and determination in the face of great adversity. The plot continues to follow Rin through the academy and into the big wide-world. One of the issues I struggled with was that the initial book seemed to have a lack of direction. Obviously it was building up to these grand events later in the book, but it was very difficult in the early stages to understand what these were going to be or quite where the book was going. This was both good and bad because the unpredictable element is exciting, but it made me feel like there wasn't a strong continuous plot in places, and that Kuang was just writing and seeing where the writing took her.

Things I really liked:
- Shamanism/God Mythology - I haven't read too many books that have dealt with Shamanism and God mythology in this way and it was a really interesting development throughout the book. I wish we'd learnt more about some of the gods and the history of shamanism as it always felt like Kuang was just brushing the surface with some of her stories. I wanted more history and more depth to everything.

- Jiang - I really liked him as a character, although he did make me sad. I can't say more without spoiling it for other people.

- The friendships -

this book had no romance (can I get a hell yeah). There were moments where I thought Kuang was going to draw it out but it never happened and I was so thankful. It was so not relevant to the plot.

The friendships she crafted were brilliant. The switching between all the relationships; were they enemies, allies, foes, friends. The suspicion, the concern and the love all of it was crafted so well. I actually grew to like many of the characters I thought I would despise and I'm still hoping (perhaps in vain) they will reappear in the second installment of this series.

- I also really appreciated that Kuang didn't shy away from the horrors of warfare, from the brutalities that humanity commits and she really showed how human choice impacts on everything by the end of the book. It was a very stark message for a fantasy book, but it was fantastically executed. I would say though, this book has huge trigger points surrounding torture, self-harm, rape, violence and all kinds of horrid events.

Things I struggled with:
-Plot pacing - as I mentioned previously I wasn't really sure where the story was going for most of the initial novel and it seemed to be building with no clear initial direction which made it feel a little like a runaway train.

-Altan - he was a very controversial character and I'm still not sure how I feel about him.

-The darkness of the book - at the same time as applauding Kuang for doing this at moments I wanted to stop and to not read any more or turn the page to find out what would happen next.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, and I thought it was going to be a new favourite of the year. I did really enjoy it, but there were just a few little niggly points that stop me from rating it 5 stars. It is one of the best books I've read recently and made me really want to sit and read all the time again, but sadly not quite five stars!