Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

61 reviews

kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

okay i confess that sometimes internet hype makes me want to read a book less (i hate being told what to do & often find “recommendations” repetitive to the point of suspicion. who is paying these booktok girlies?). in this instance, my stubbornness in that regard did me a HUGE disservice bc I could have read this gem WAY sooner. many apologies to the author, i should have trusted the internet on this one :’( im here now, that’s all that matters  

This book has it all:
1. Giant machine fights & magic
2. Pissed off main chars
3. Romance that isn’t overly drawn out (+ that [spoiler] trope i LOVE replacing a love triangle!)
4. Twist that was just the right amount of twisty 

The romance was *chefs kiss* and I LOVE that this is a duology. Authors that know themselves & their story enough to wrap it up nicely without a million sequels make my wallet & my unmotivated depression brain very happy! (no real shade to authors with longer series, they just exhaust me at this stage of life)

Overall this was an incredible read, no notes, I really can’t wait to read the next book! Would recommend to anyone who likes Pacific Rim, word of honor (iygiygi), and just general violent fun with characters who do in fact choose revenge

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Misogyny

Minor: Colonisation and Homophobia

maya_venkatesh36's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Homophobia

sherlockstan98's review against another edition

adventurous sad

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Ableism, Misogyny, and Rape

miss__manga__'s review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.0

Not a perfect read but a great one. I think some of the repeated ideas (mcs ranting) could have been tightened and condensed to make more room for world building and the poly relationship. I feel like a lot was done off screen in that regard. 

Saw the end coming to a degree, but not the ultimatum. 

Contains some iconic and hilarious lines. Looking forward to the sequel. Li Shimin supremacy!

Do not understand the tattoos of one of the love interests. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Torture

Minor: Homophobia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Addiction, Death, Body shaming, and Cursing

may_alyse's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.75

a murderous, raging, and unflinching female protagonist is all ive ever wanted to read about. i love this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Torture, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Rape, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Body shaming

lolaslalaland's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

3.0

Mech-suits, spiritual energy, alien fights, I mean this was awesome. It reminded me of Pacific Rim, but also of the manga Darling in the Franxx, especially with the whole male and female pilots for the machines and needing to match each other's power levels. 

I really did love the whole concept of the book, but I very quickly got tired of the sexism narrative. After a while, the plot and storyline got swallowed by the main character's constant anger at the fact that she is a girl and girls don't get treated equally. Listen, there is nothing wrong with having a fantasy/sci-fi book criticize sexism and misogyny by placing it as a societal standard in the world building, but I'm a little tired of seeing it. And this book would not let up on it. Because of that I often felt like there wasn't enough character development, world building and general good story-telling. 

But that's not to say there weren't some positives about the book, I already mentioned the really cool premise of giant machines fighting aliens, and the ending was actually a very interesting twist, also I really loved the relationships in the book, the concept of love and how it can't adhere to rules and the more you have it, the better, shouldn't be limited by gender. I didn't have a bad time reading this book, but I probably won't pick up the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Torture, and Misogyny

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Slavery, Classism, and Body horror

Minor: Homophobia

alphabetmafiamember's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, Cursing, Misogyny, Murder, War, Kidnapping, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Trafficking, and Blood

Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Sexual content, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Addiction, Classism, and Rape

Minor: Classism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Colonisation, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

caitlin033's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Torture, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, and War

Moderate: Blood, Grief, and Rape

Minor: Body shaming and Homophobia

saintyeehaw's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Pretty much scratched every itch for female rage and vengeance I've ever had. I felt the urge to scream my soul out along with Zetian at every turn and was always left satisfied. 

I loved the inclusion of a polyamorous triangle. I've never read a book with one before. Honestly, I also really loved that Zetian crushed her family (literally) in the end. I was so disappointed by the initial "be the bigger person" turn but it was SO perfect how it was really just used as a weapon against her. Sometimes the rotten family really does just have to pay for their behavior and/or passiveness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Death, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Xenophobia, Ableism, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, and Sexual content

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Colonisation, Homophobia, and Animal death

emilysreadingbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Classism, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Blood, Chronic illness, Grief, Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Torture, and War

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Cursing, and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia