The Poppy War

I'm quite fond of historical fiction and fantasy so the fusion of the two is naturally right up my alley and this book does not disappoint in those regards. I really enjoyed the take on the pantheon and how gods played into the story of the Nanjing Massacre. Hard to read at times, because it can be quite dark and gruesome, but very gripping.

When it comes to the characters, I didn't really like most of them. I wouldn't even say that I was often rooting for them, especially Rin, but they are written to where their behavior at least is understandable. In that regard they are incredibly well written. Something else I really appreciate is the fact Kuang was also able to interweave history and mythology through the story in a way that made you feel like you were coming to understand the world, society, the gods etc. as Rin was in a natural way rather than relying on long info dumps or exposition.

I'd highly recommend this, but would definitely encourage people to look over the trigger warnings beforehand.