The Poppy War
by R.F. Kuang
Our rating
Spice: none. Darkness: extremely dark.
It starts as a school story about a war orphan who aces the exam into a military academy. Then the war arrives. Based on the Second Sino-Japanese War, including the Nanjing Massacre. Read the warnings, seriously.
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Is The Poppy War spicy?
No. The Poppy War has no sex on the page. If there's romance it stays at kissing or happens off-page, so it's a safe pick if you want zero spice.
How dark is The Poppy War?
We rate The Poppy War 5 out of 5 for darkness (extremely dark). The big content warnings are genocide, war, sexual assault, drug or alcohol abuse. The full list is further down the page.
Do you need to read The Poppy War in order?
The Poppy War is book 1 of The Poppy War, so it's the place to start. The series has 3 books on our list so far and is complete.
Tropes
Content warnings
Show 6 content warnings for The Poppy War
- Genocide
- War
- Sexual assault
- Drug or alcohol abuse
- Graphic violence
- Torture
These are our own notes, not a complete list. If something matters a lot to you, check reviews too.
Details
- Series
- The Poppy War, book 1
- Series status
- Complete
- Pages
- 522
- First published
- 2018
- Genre
- Dark Fantasy
