[book-review] R.F.Kuang - The Poppy War (The Poppy War Series 1)

I brought The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang last year in autumn. I saw it on Instagram and did some research on it and thought "this sounds interesting, let's order it". Only to read it over the last three weeks and to finish it on Monday. I've one word for it: brilliant!

“If there is a divine creator, some ultimate moral authority, then why do bad things happen to good people? And why would this deity create people at all, since people are such imperfect beings?”

 The story starts with a young girl, Rin, who's living in the south of Nikan with abusive foster parents. She's a war orphan and supposed to marry an opium dealer. She's out of the way with this and the Fangs - her foster parents, who are also dealers - will have full control over their opium business in their village with this arranged marriage. But Rin has own plans. She manages to convince the Fangs to try taking part in the Keju to study at one of the Academies in the country to get away. Her goal is Sinegard, where she's going to be trained to become a soldier. 
To everyone's surprise she manages to get a top score and into the Academy. She's full of hope and excitement when she arrives in the North and the Academy but soon realises that life and especially her training aren't as easy as she thought. Yet soon she finds out she's more powerful than everyone suspects. That leads her to train in Lore and become a Shaman. 
After only a few years in her training, war breaks out - a Third Poppy War - and Rin and her classmates are sent off to fight. When she unleashes the fire to save a friend and their live, everyone realises the danger that comes with her abilities and she's send off to fight with a regiment of assassins: The Cike.

Here's the official book trailer that's just brilliant! 

“You humans always think you’re destined for things, for tragedy or for greatness. Destiny is a myth. Destiny is the only myth. The gods choose nothing. You chose.”

The first part of the book is mostly Rin's story at Sinegard and how she's getting trained. What's her life at the Academy. Her training, her classmates, her masters. I really enjoyed that part. You get to see so much of the characters. Especially of Rin. Her weaknesses, her ambitions, her hopes. I loved it and it was so good to get to know all the characters and also side-characters. Altan, Kitay, Nezha, Jiang... You get to know and love the characters. And also get your hopes destroyed about their well being. More than one time, so grab some tissues if you fall for your characters easily.

The second part is mostly about the Third Poppy War. How things begin. What's the politics, the tactics and how Rin get's transferred to the Cike. And you get to know more brilliant characters. The Cike itself and see another familiar face. Altan Trengsin. New commander of the Cike. And to be fair, I completely fell for him. You learn that Rin is trying to control her power, summon it whenever she needs it. 

The third part of the book is the big and heartbreaking finale - grab the tissues guys! The descriptions of what's going on during the war, just broke my heart. It was... heartbreaking. But also brilliant. I don't want to spoil too much of it. The end was just... I'm still out of words.

I also loved Rebecca's writing style. Simple, compared to other authors, and yet so brilliant! I really could imagine Nikan, Rin and Sinegard. The war, Speer, the Pantheon and all the other aspects of this stunning fantasy novel. It really was a wonderful start for - what I hope - to be a fantastic trilogy. I haven't started with the second book - The Dragon Republic - yet, but soon will. Also I ordered the third book - The Burning God - and it'll arrive Wednesday. Also - to be fair - if you don't read the books, they still look damn good on your bookshelf since the cover art is stunning! 
Yet I want one thing: GO AND READ THE POPPY WAR!
You won't regret it to get captured in this adventurous, rough and brilliant fantasy world of Rebecca F. Kuang.

BTW Rebecca's new novel Babel (I'm so excited for this, I can't tell you how much!), will be out in 2022. Check out the synopsis and official announcement on her website here. 

“It’s easy to be brave. Harder to know when not to fight.”

Have you read The Poppy war yet? If so, how did you like it? What was your favourite moment? What's your fav character? Feel free to drop a comment below or on my Twitter @TBookcorner or Instagram @principiantes.