Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao

70 reviews

caseythereader's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Torture, Pregnancy

missindyrose's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, War

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

ali_k0's review against another edition

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This book is enrapturing. It is terrifying. It is a car crash you can't help but watch and a murder that freezes your blood while you cheer for the murderer. I would say I couldn't put it down, but that's untrue. I threw it on my couch and ran laps around my house from the adrenaline it caused me. I was screaming in the drive through for in-n-out beside my mom. I was reading every word between the fingers I covered my eyes with and pausing for breaths at every turned page. I was scared to start every chapter for fear of what lied before me. This was the most stressful inducing book with some of the most complex characters I ever read. 

But I was also cheering, whooping with joy, crying from relief. I swooned at certain romantic lines (even when I was aware I *really* should not be, but Wu Zetian the women you ARE) and reveled at the characters vengeance. 

The author stings along your hopes, crushing them in one hand while reviving them in the other. They twist your view of the world in so many knots your as unsure of every step as the characters. It was thrilling.

I hadn't realized how much I've missed books that make me feel this way until I read Heavenly Tyrant. They are rare and brilliant and this is at the height of them. We had to wait a long time for the sequel to Iron Widow because of the industry, but this book is a testament to how good things are worth waiting for, and how revolution relies not just on violence, but the voices of artists to carry it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, War, Classism

Moderate: Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, Trafficking, Death of parent, Gaslighting

Minor: Miscarriage, Terminal illness

The authors own included Note on content warnings: "Please beware that this book contains violence and abuse, body horror, mass murder, toxic relationship dynamics, discussions of reproductive coercion, allusions to childhood sexual abuse, and references to mis- carriage, domestic violence, sexual assault, and suicide. Although inspired by figures and events from across Chinese history, this book is not historical fiction, historical fantasy, or alternate history, but a futuristic story set in a science-fiction world entirely different from our own in the way that many sci-fi stories riff off of the Roman Empire. Historical figures are reimagined for the purpose of exploring the spirit they represented rather than accurately depicting their origi- nal life circumstances and upbringings. This book should not be taken as an educational guide in any way. To get an authentic view of history, please consult nonfiction sources. The fictionalized characters in this novel make many morally ques- tionable choices in the conditions unique to their world. Depictions do not equate to endorsement in real life, and parallels to reality should not be drawn without considering the impacts of the existence of fantasy plot devices such as Chrysalises." -Xiran Jay Zhao

mcmolls's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

hazel_georgene's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Colonisation

Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Trafficking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic

scottishgremlin's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Firstly, this book was a totally different reading experience from Iron Widow. I reread Iron Widow before reading Heavenly Tyrant and tonally they’re very different. This was less satisfying and much more stressful, but also much more intricate. I really enjoyed the layers upon layers of commentary on capitalism and how it fosters states of oppression. There were also countless gorgeous passages of setting description in this book that made me gasp.

Zetian and Qin Zheng’s relationship is fascinating. I love to see two people who are so similar that they absolutely despise each other, and the twisted twisted ways in which that manifests. 

The way Yizhi’s character was handled in this book was really interesting. Eventually I’ll be able to express my thoughts in an intelligent way. I also loved his sister Taiping and her communist girlfriend Wan’er.

I also really liked how this book addressed some of the nuances of feminism that the first book didn’t (much to the criticism of readers).

Seeing Zetian build a strong female community around her was really affirming to read, and I appreciated the discussion being brought up around how we should not be trying to attain for women what men have, but rather questioning whether anyone should have those things in the first place.

I also really enjoyed the worldbuilding! SO cleverly done and so intricate. And how meta it all felt. (I’ve hit my coherency limit of the day.)

Zetian’s horror around pregnancy/the exploitation of her ova was very poignant and felt very real to me. Props to Zhao.

Shimin was used quite sparingly in this book and I thought that was very effective. I’m hoping there’ll be further installations in this series as the epilogue ends with a “To Be Continued…” and that we’ll find out what happened to him. The tender moments with him in Zetian’s memory and the “Mei-Niang” at the end made me BAWL.

Overall this was stressful and confusing and I could not stop thinking about it. 5/5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Blood, War

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Classism

Minor: Medical content

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Review to come!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Pregnancy, Colonisation

Minor: Sexual content

alyxthebookdragon's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark medium-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: Complicated

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I received an ALC through Libro.fm for this title.

I have been waiting since April 2022 with baited breath for this book, and was of course worried my expectations would be let down after so much anticipation. They were not. This was really damn good.

I think if it had been the same as iron widow, I would have been disappointed. But Heavenly Tyrant has very different tone and pacing. I loved it. It feels like growth. So you took your rage and smashed your oppressors, now what? How are you going to use power for good? It honestly mirrors my own journey of becoming aware of oppression, getting angry, and learning so much more of how the world works. Building a better world takes more thought and effort than angry me would have expected.

The relationships are INTENSE. I love how Zhao builds characters. The interpersonal dynamics had me always on the edge of my seat.

I also have to commend them on how

they ballooned out the world building. Often times when you start zoomed in and expand the camera, I find it frustrating. This I found believable and engaging.  Zooming out to space and having these two crazy intense people approach it with the same ferocity they've had for the whole book (which the space people find baffling) really sealed it for me.

Goodness gracious I can't wait for the next one. 

A note on the audio book: there are two narrators, giving each POV character their own voice. The main character narrator does a good job voicing various dialect changes in a way I enjoyed. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, War

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

jen_prouvaire's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This sequel was just as enjoyable as the first book! 
The first few chapters follow the action from the end of Iron Widow (which I found slightly confusing as it has been a while since I read the first one, but I quickly orientated myself) but I felt like the story really kicks off when we start to see the aftermath. It's very hard to describe without spoiling, but I love that Zhao doesn't shy away from very difficult questions and consequences of revolution. Zetian goes through a lot of internal conflict and despair in this book as she reckons with everything she has done, everyone she has lost, and the accidental consequences of her actions, but we also see how she can't allow herself to break down if she wants any of that loss to mean anything. 
I also love that Zetian gets to have many more deep and meaningful relationships with women explored in this book, as well as the very interesting dynamic between her and Qin Zheng being the central storyline.
Addictively readable!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC, I was so excited to get this early! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Colonisation, Classism