And that is always a good thing. Took long break between books - forgot how likable and annoying the deep personalities can be at the same time.

When I first started the Poppy War trilogy I loved everything about Rin. Her passion, her stubbornness and daring. When she didn’t back down from anyone or feel ashamed for being not the right color or poor. That she felt resentment, gave into anger and fight take the high road. She felt so human. Too many characters are all goodness personified, self-righteous or about taking the high road or doing whatever right. They felt unreal and not relatable. Then the second book came. Rin became too hard and less human. I still loved the character but after her reunion with her foster brother I started looking at her differently. Some empathy and love for him didn’t manifest. Leaving him in the refugee camp and not trying to ask for him to at least be given a job or enlist him as a soldier. At least something you would do if you truly ever cared for someone that was starving or without resources. Now Rin flaws I loved make me look at her not in such a good light. In the end she was back on my good side. I saw the betrayal coming miles away. I never trusted that person. Or maybe I’ve read too many thrillers and mysteries not to have seen this.

The series started off with a bang: great world building, great characters. But by the third novel it seemed that the author didn’t know what she wanted to do with the story, with lots of seemingly random twists and turns, leading to an ending that seemed almost an afterthought. Furthermore, the novels descended deeper and deeper into gratuitous cruelty. Too much back and forth, too much aimlessness, too little coherence. But I finished all three; there’s plenty of talent here.