The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Started: 23 July 2020
Finished: 17 August 2020
That’s right! I am attempting to read two books at once. Between the World and Me in the morning (though I’ve been bad this week) and The Poppy War whenever I feel like it. As I type this, I’m ~70 pages into Poppy War and I’m liking it so far. It has an academy setting, which gives it instant brownie points.
A few weeks later, and we’re finished. What I think I like most about this book was its mix of the traditional and non-traditional. It started with tropes many fantasy readers engage easily with: underdog making her way to the top, mentor-apprentice arc, academy setting, and then just when I felt I knew where the book was going, it forged its own path. As the first of a series it did a good job at giving us a complete story, while setting the stage for where the series will go. I liked it enough to give the rest of the series a try, though, with 20+ books on my TBR currently, it’ll likely be awhile until I pick up book two.
2020 Reads:
- The Institute by Stephen King
- An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
- Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
- Starsight by Brandon Sanderson
- Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
- Rosemary and Rue: An October Daye Novel by Seanan McGuire
- The Kingdom of Copper by S. A. Chakraborty
- Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
- Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan
- The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
- The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
- The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin
- How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang