When Rin aced the Keju, the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies, it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard, the most elite military school in Nikan, was even more surprising.
But surprises aren’t always good.
Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.
For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .
Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.
The Review
The Poppy War is one heck of a rollercoaster ride from start to finish and quite possibly the most graphic and gory book I've ever read, ever. If you don't like violence, this ain't the one for you, sis. That being said, I absolutely loved every single miserable second. And I was horribly miserable reading through quite a few moments. I probably had my mouth hanging open through the majority of the book. This is one author who is not afraid to use her power to make the reader SUFFER. It seems like that would be a bad thing but no, because I'm a masochist I adore it at the same moment that I hate it.
Rin is an amazing character to follow, and I liked her development throughout the book. I'm curious to see what happens to her in the sequel, which I mercifully have sitting right beside me. This isn't a book about a military school, or gods, or drug addiction, or war crimes, or even navigating the world as an adolescent into young adulthood. It's all of that and so, so much more. It's a coming of age story set in a very messed up racist world shared by mortals and gods alike. I suppose the moral dilemma is the most interesting part for me; that being: is the whole reflective of the group? There's a fine line between revenge and justice, and where should that line be drawn? And who should be the one to draw it?
