Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

61 reviews

squinnittowinit's review

adventurous challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.75

A delightful book in every way. Full of drama and emotion, action and intrigue, with powerful characters who will fight tooth and nail to get what they want.

I thought this book did a very good job of immersing the reader in the very real misogyny that Wu Zetian experiences at every turn, but also not wallowing in those feelings. Instead, Zetian fights against the system at every turn and the reader can celebrate with her when she succeeds. Gao Yizhi and Li Shimin are great supporting characters as well, full of their own depth, but without taking away from Zetian's character in any way.

I especially loved how unapologetically bloodthirsty Wu Zetian was, so often the "dangerous woman" main character ends up just being misunderstood, or becomes tamed by love or something, which is just weak character development. Wu Zetian is a dangerous woman, and that never changes.

4.75 stars because some of the most dramatic dialogue moments were just a little too silly for my liking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Murder, Confinement, Violence, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Misogyny, Death, Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Classism, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, Rape, War, Gun violence, and Ableism

Minor: Homophobia, Gaslighting, Vomit, Transphobia, Pedophilia, and Pregnancy

vagabond_bones's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring reflective 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

5.0

I couldn’t put it down and read it in less than 24 hours. It is feminist, fierce, raw, choke-full of amazing quotes. Although not reflective per se, it left me deeply in thought about systems of oppression, and the twist ending (which was foreshadowed, yet jaw dropping) only adds to my hunger for more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexism, and War

Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Biphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

ufollowbooks's review

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

a bit of mary sue fanfic kind of vibe, but in a good way 

 

what a book! traditions from our world intertwined with technology you cannot fathom properly, sprinkled with female rage, political intrigues, surprisingly great romance, and, of course, brilliant writing. 

 

basically, it's "labour" by paris paloma, but in a book form. 

 

i already knew that there's a polyamory done right - it was the main reason i added this book to my tbr in all honesty - as well as disability rep, but damn! it was amazing and seeing a badass wheelchair user made my heart go "wheee" 🫶🏻 

 

it's definitely a very fast paced book, and an intense one, too. a lot of violence happening, but it never is just for the sake if violence, as it often happens with male-written fantasy. and yes, it felt much more like fantasy to me than as sci-fi, though there are element of it for sure. maybe because sci-fi to me is more about space and aliens, and there are little of that! 😅 

 

the ending felt a but rushed, and i can actually understand the motivation behind the way things end. discussing the ending in detail and with spoilers:

yes it's not very thought through and a lot of decisions are made here and now, but that's how the whole book is! Zetian is young, and emotional (in the best way possible!), and she has a lot of power for literally the first time in her life. she doesn't play the nuanced game, she never did - she comes in hot and does things the way she sees fit, without compromises. taking over control of the golden dragon and planning to overtake the country is very much in her character, so you're either ok with it or not. can't wait to read the second book to see how it all will be addressed!

 

the romance is... well. it's m/f/m triangle, but the proper one, where everyone is queer. gender identity is also mentioned, but the book did felt a bit too cis and straight to me, with only the main throuple being part of the lgbtq+ community. it didn't worsen the story, but looking back it was, indeed, a bit odd. on the other side, this also highlights once again that Zetian is different from people around her - and her partners are, too. overall, the romance is a pretty big part of the storyline.

 

❗️ beware, there will be a second book, and the story ends on a BIG cliffhanger! so if you're not ready to commit to thus - wait until 30th of april, 2024, when "Heavenly Tyrant" comes out. 

 

to summarise, a great book, which i can definitely recommend to those who like intense, fast-paced fantasy with elements of sci-fi and historical basis 

 

8/10 ⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Ableism, Alcohol, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and War

Moderate: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Torture, Classism, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Sexual violence, and Stalking

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Body shaming, Colonisation, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, and Medical content

icy_queen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Do not expect any of the characters to be "nice" or "good people" and be prepared for many horrible things to happen (definitely check trigger warnings)! If you're ok with that or even enjoy reading it, I highly recommend this book.

The main character is absolutely, wonderfully unhinged and hellbent on revenge for her sister, herself, and all the other girls that were sacrificed, mutilated and/or killed by their society. She doesn't stop at killing her sister's murderer, but strives to destroy the whole system with the help of her soft "rich boy" bestfriend and her dangerous, bad boy, involuntary co-pilot (the three of them form an actual love triangle).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gun violence, Alcohol, Blood, Physical abuse, War, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Racism, and Police brutality

Minor: Homophobia, Biphobia, Xenophobia, Fatphobia, and Medical content

There is a a short list of potential triggers at the beginning of the book. Other triggers that cannot be tagged and could be huge SPOILERS:

Main Character Death (unclear if it's final) Foot-binding of girls' feet Domestic Abuse is pretty normal in this society Boys are hugely preferred over girls Purity Culture Etc.

ajhling's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is not just gold tier, but platinum tier. It's such a great book that I have technically brought two copies of - the paperback (which I brought first) and the audio (which I brought so I can listen while driving or playing video games). I have all intentions of buying an E-Book version in the near future so I'll always have a copy on hand. 

This book has characters that are mostly grey at best, and down right evil at worst. Our protagonist is a ball of rage and is someone who would be seen as the villain in many works of fiction. I love it. Even her romantic partners are on the verge of being villains in other works of fiction. 

My favourite part besides the plot and our protagonist and her romantic partners, and the world as a whole?

The fact that there's no explicit sex scenes which have impregnated the publishing industry these days. Meaning you have a book that treats its readers like the older teens and adults that we are without having to worry about sex scenes because it's aimed towards an older teen, recent high school graduate age range, which apparently means sex most be included un the eyes of modern publishers.

I'm so hoping that the lack of explicit sex scenes continues onto the next book/s in the series (though even if they were present I'd still buy/read them anyway).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Misogyny

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Genocide, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, Rape, Homophobia, Colonisation, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Violence, Body shaming, Racism, and Alcohol

audiem's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual harassment, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, War, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Ableism, Abandonment, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Colonisation and Xenophobia

Minor: Homophobia

shelvesofivy's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Torture, War, Alcohol, Addiction, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Vomit

Minor: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Rape

emburke's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Torture, War, Violence, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, and Death

Minor: Rape, Homophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Biphobia

merlionne's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring 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

4.5

Had a great time reading this. I mean "inspiring" in an angry way, because Zetian's anger is quite cathartic. She's tired of being a girl in a world that treats her like shit and sometimes a ruthless revenge fantasy is exactly what you need. But don't worry, she's not always right about everything. 
I loved the mythological aspects of the world, even though I don't know a lot about the actual people and their stories they're referencing. The only thing that bothered me a bit is that all the secrets that get unveiled are kind of ....eh?  It's not a bad thing, maybe from a modern perspective they're a lot less shocking or it's a lot easier for me to expect something like that to be the case, but ultimately it works within the story and I'll read the next book because I want to see how Zetian blows up some more bastards.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Blood, Violence, Sexism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, and War

Moderate: Grief, Racism, Confinement, Death, Bullying, Colonisation, Classism, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Body shaming

Minor: Body shaming, Sexual assault, Excrement, Rape, Infidelity, Biphobia, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Vomit, Physical abuse, Animal death, and Sexual violence

Even though it gets talked about etc, there are no detailed descriptions of sexual assault or other sexual violence. The book also includes a list of the biggest trigger warnings in the beginning, a lot of what I added here is in there somehow but for the most cases not overly detailed, extensive or dwelled upon.

inkling's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.0

I had heard a lot of good things about this book before reading it, and it did not disappoint! Very gripping plot, interesting characters and finally a solution to the YA love triangle trope. (no spoilers but it's gay and it's genius). The writing was so immersive and I liked that the world building was continued throughout, the reader isn't just told everything at the beginning. I found the pilot-system a bit hard to understand at first, but the first "battle scene" helped me visualise it. The characters are constantly discovering secrets about their world, which makes it very exciting to read. Got to say though, I was NOT expecting the amount of violence, including sexual violence that is in this book. It is a lot darker than I was ready for and although it fit with the story, it was a little jarring. Something to keep in mind if you don't like reading about those things! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Alcoholism, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Homophobia