Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Viuda de hierro by Xiran Jay Zhao

286 reviews

iane_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Genocide, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Deportation

jonwood's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I know found the book rather hard to want to read the first 200 pages as the narrator was a very angry and venomous person. I appreciated as the narrator began to learn how complicated the world and politics can be and seems to be less venomous to everyone she meets, however at the end, the last 50-ish pages became a bunch of action with the narrator (while confident in her abilities and free of doubt) decides violence is the only way to solve society's powers by taking over the world. Also, the book doesn't really finish on a conclusion, but more of a tease that doesn't really leave me wanting more. 

In general I don't care for reading action scenes, and I found these about giant robots and equally giant aliens somewhat hard to follow (ironic considering my childhood love of Power Rangers, but visuals help).

This book despite being labeled as YA, covers a lot of sensitive topics. The opening introduction/prologue begins with a rather explicit rape allegory. Sexual assault, manipulation, and shame all feature heavy, and an actual rape attempt (not just a metaphor) is very explicitly applied to almost happen at one point. Also, within the first 50 pages, child abuse happens. Due to all of this, this book may be hard for some to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Torture, Medical content, Murder, and War

aileygustafson's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Sexual harassment, and War

justmys's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I enjoyed the world the story took place in. The premise and intrigue but I wish there had been more of it.
Everything happens so fast and so easily (???) that it just felt...like watching a movie adaptation of a novel?
I didn't like the main character. I wanted to.

But every time she opened her mouth I cringed at her. She was not the cold genius she I thought she was. She was manipulated and easily played and only accomplished what she did because of the men around her. She never did anything herself.

If there's another book set in the same world I'll read it. It's an easy read and a decent idea for a story. I just hope we get to delve further in and read a novel instead of watching the YA movie version.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

mel_j's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

sparrowhearted's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I really enjoyed the premise and appreciated a book that tackled so many complicated and often difficult-to-address topics while not always treating them as the sole center of the story. 

The writing felt somewhat underdeveloped and a little dissonant in many places, something I assume was both encouraged given its target audience and is also very understandable considering this is Zhao's debut as a published author but it did frequently take me out of my reading experience, which I thought was a pity. I also think that due to its stylistic shortcomings, the more serious aspects that pertain to inequality and other more sensitive, nuanced topics took somewhat of a preachy tone, not unlike the one you would find on Twitter. I personally did not enjoy that, but I can yet again also see why that would resonate with a YA audience that I no longer fall into.

The book's premise and ideas overall make up for my gripes with its writing and structuring, however, and I'm both very willing to read its continuation once it is published but have also recommended it to multiple people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Classism

alixcalfa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Sexual harassment, and War

kathrun006's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Some of the writing felt a bit cliche even if the plot was unique. The book felt very similar to the hunger games in a lot of ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Rape

It's a dystopia about a society that does not value women or girls. Expect to see content related to a sexist society. The point of the novel is that the main character, the hero is rebeling against this system so the book itself takes on a feminist tone while dealing with these upsetting details. The main character also has bound feet so if that is upsetting, avoid this book.

goodevening77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It surprised me from the start as I went in for the poly representation and was not expecting traumatising backstory about

feet

. It was one of those books where you think they’re gonna tie of a loose end but another just grows and it was a bit hard to keep up with at the end. However, I loved that for once there was a poly relationship that wasn’t just in my head. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

jupitersuns's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Such an amazing book! It's another one that I wish I could rate it 100 out of 5 ⭐ 

The ending was a complete twist that I wasn't expecting 😹 I am screaming rn and I love it!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, Murder, and Sexual harassment

This does have a lot of mentions of sexual assault, domestic abuse, self harm/ self harm ideation through out the book. If you are really sensitive to any of those topics, read with caution 😖