The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

Broke one of my reading rules with this one since its ostensibly the first of a series and the others are not written yet...but I did not know that when I started is so I'll forgive myself this once.  The story starts by pulling out all of the fantasy tropes one by one...an orphan taken in by reluctant guardians, a teacher who takes a special interest, a test/challenge which must be mastered against all the odds, placement in a school/unit where outsiders have to work 10 times as hard to achieve the same recognition, discovery of a special power which elevates....I could go on and on and we'd hit every. single. one.  Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with that-I love a good fantasy novel!  But while not bad, this one also does not stand out from the crowd:  Rin is no Harry Potter or Rand al'Thor.

Will I read the sequel should it ever come out?  Maybe.  Will it be on my must read list?  Nope.

Rating:  #5 Good Enough