The Poppy War Review

At first I thought The Poppy War would mainly concern power. It became more interesting when class entered the same decision.

War orphan Rin earns a place at an elite military academy and discovers dangerous divine power as her country moves toward invasion. The same pressure returns through the brutal academy competition, which makes power feel lived rather than arranged.

The emotional center becomes clear once the characters begin paying for power, often through the brutal academy competition. Rin's ambition is admirable and alarming, and the novel refuses to make talent the same thing as wisdom. I disagreed with several decisions, but the fear connected to class rarely felt invented when the brutal academy competition entered the scene.

The book circles around power, class, racism, war, vengeance, trauma, atrocity, and the temptation to answer violence with greater violence. I did not agree with every conclusion, but I liked being asked to judge actions connected to power, particularly around the brutal academy competition, rather than accept a ready-made moral.

The weaker stretch comes from the fact that the tonal shift is abrupt, and secondary characters sometimes disappear behind Rin's fury. The issue did not ruin the experience, though it made the handling of class, especially the brutal academy competition, feel arranged for effect.

The material I kept returning to was the brutal academy competition, shamanic training, and the shocking shift when war begins. The effect comes from accumulation around the brutal academy competition, not from one oversized speech.

Several scenes improve on reflection because the brutal academy competition acquires a different meaning later.

I would return to The Poppy War for the brutal academy competition, though I would still argue with its treatment of power.