Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

397 reviews

al_ana5522's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

So good. Everything I wanted and needed for a book. When I say I want a strong female lead that slightly morally grey this is what I meant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexism, War, Rape, Grief, Violence, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Misogyny, Torture, Child abuse, Murder, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

lauremi's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

0.5

i loved the initial concept, so i hate to say it, but this was one of the worst books i’ve ever read. 

it tries way too hard to make everything about feminism, but then there are lines in the book such as “he stumbled like a girl.” it tries to make a statement about an uncontrollable abuse of power, but instead of restoring equality, the book ends with the protagonist also abusing this same power. this whole book is fueled by the emotions of rage and grief, which is understandable given the topic, but it provides no depth to the plot or the characters.

this book felt like it was originally written as a bad fan fiction. there were so many cringy lines and subplots that made me want to stop reading entirely, but with how far into the book i was, i felt the need to finish it (spoiler alert- the ending wasn’t worth it). everything felt very rushed and sloppy, and overall, i wish i never picked this book up in the first place.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Torture

teconaisha's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Blood, War, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Torture

gaymoonreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Confinement, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Addiction, Murder, Physical abuse, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Terminal illness

ebp's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Alcoholism, War, Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Rape, Slavery, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Confinement

ainadei's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A very angry book. I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Alcohol, War, Alcoholism, and Classism

Moderate: Mental illness, Death, and Domestic abuse

mitta_girl452's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

This book is a wild, crazy ride.
Personally, I LOVED it, and was hooked from the start.
It explores so many amazing themes of sexism, family, love, guilt, war and grief, and its all done so beautifully. I really enjoyed the anger that Zetian has towards men, and her platonic adoration for women and their strength.
I LOVE her quote:
"He does not get to make me a statistic." 
As I survivor of sexual assault, that really hit home with me. When I read for the first time I stopped, put down the book and immediately wrote it out and put it up on my wall. It's just so powerful. 
It is a very dark book, and if you are someone with poor mental health or easily triggered by anything you see in the content warnings below, I possibly wouldn't recommend this to you. 
I love how this book speaks about the stereotype that being strong means to hide emotions, be distrustful and not love, especially for women. Women who publicly show fear, love, sadness or really any strong emotion are labelled as 'weak', when really they are the strong ones, for having the courage to show that much openness publicly.
This book is definitely a must-read, and I'm really looking forward to the sequel. 
The characters are loveable, the premise is exciting and interesting and the plot is so full of twists and turns that you are always on the edge of your seat. 
It's a really wonderful mashup of science fiction, dystopian future, Chinese mythology and action. 
Please read this

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Torture, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Alcoholism, Addiction, Death, Gaslighting, Cursing, Medical content, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Minor: War, Classism, and Confinement

eveningreverie's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.25

This played out like an anime in my head—I can definitely see the credit sequence every single time there’s a giant robot battle.

I’m entirely confused about the themes suddenly interjected into the book in quite literally the very last chapter.

Zeitian is definitely a badass, but her choices don’t really make a lot of sense and aren’t really explained. She has emotional realizations and then—when asked to essentially follow up on those realizations—regresses in her character development. Some of the arguments for not being shamed with one’s own body or sexuality don’t really hold up either since she is still bending to the wills of men in order to potentially (I say potentially because

there are certain moments that absolutely would not have ended at whatever she thought they would. See: the video Yizhi's dad forces her to take of her reading her contract naked. She says "what's he going to have? A video of me naked? I'm done being shamed about my body" and the only thing I can think of is "girl what the hell you really think this guy is going to stop at only having a video after he's already made you do that?!?!" A lot of the arguments for lack of shame feel like they're based on her actually taking men at what they say, which felt like red flag after red flag

) get a step closer to her goals. I understand it, for sure, but it’s never interrogated too deeply and it feels as though there’s a big portion of this book that requires that deeper interrogation. Why are we portraying things this particular way? Why are we achieving self-actualization through

having sex with specific men?

What does this particular angle of bending to others' whims to achieve self goals add to the narrative and themes? Could it have been stronger if she denied these male “desires?” 

I’m not sure, but the breakneck pace of the plot didn’t leave much room for characters to sit with these questions, and much less time for the audience to. I'm not saying the vengeful post-feminism has to hinge on completely shutting down any sort of desire for the masculine, but this tension is really not interrogated to the level at which the nuance would actually jump out of the page.

Gripping plot and definitely a page turner—I got through it in under a day. Feels like it lost its footing in the last couple chapters, though, as if a sequel setup was all the rest of the story was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Rape and Torture

adalinemccormick's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, and Blood

Moderate: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Domestic abuse, Torture, Rape, and Murder

erstreetman's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Body shaming, Xenophobia, and War