Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

52 reviews

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

alicelalicon's review

Likely will start over another time with the ebook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexism

daenarvelaryon1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I loved the idea of the story and Xiran Jay Zhao's smart marketing certainly sold me on the book. Unfortunately, I feel like the book did not live up to the hype on social media.  

The writing style is a bit sloppy, unrefined and needs to be worked on. The dialogue was occassionally incredibly cringy. The message of the story could have been handled and presented in a better, subtler way. And don't even get me started on the ending (felt like the publisher basically forced the author into writing a sequel). Xiran also needs to start showing things instead of telling. 

If I had to compare the story to an already existing work, it really felt like an average fanfiction from AO3 or Wattpad (I have no doubt that Xiran has experience with writing fanfiction and it shows in the book too). If that works for you, then you will very likely enjoy the story.

I really wanted to like this book because I love Xiran's content. Ultimately, it was a fun ride, but I would not recommend this book for someone looking for a high quality story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Death, Emotional abuse, War, Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, Torture, Body shaming, Bullying, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Classism, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Racism, Xenophobia, and Rape

intothestarrysea's review

I really wanted to like this book. Conceptually, it had a lot of great things, and the MC was unhinged in an amazing way. 

But man, the misogyny. And I don’t just mean the evil patriarchy in the book. I mean in the way her sister is fridged and then almost never brought up again, as if she didn’t exist except as plot motivation. I mean in the way the MC has 0 female friends and there is not a single female character she has a positive relationship with. I mean in the way the MC wants to end the killing of girls but is 100% okay with slaughtering boys. I mean in the way this book doesn’t pass the Bechdel test. I mean in the way

some guy makes her strip naked and read a contract on camera, and she says whatever, humiliation is just a state of mind,

effectively invalidating all the women (and people) who have felt shame and humiliation from that same thing. It kind of blames them for feeling shamed. 

It was a good idea, and in many ways, it actually felt like the hunger games. It just didn’t hit the mark for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Gore, Alcohol, Murder, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Violence, Fatphobia, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Cursing, Child abuse, and Alcoholism

Foot binding

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.5

this was a good and somewhat educational read. however, i struggled with the worldbuilding and the "magic" system. i found myself lost at some points. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Violence, Death, Colonisation, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism, Cursing, Infidelity, Blood, Alcohol, Gore, Infertility, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, War, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

dragonbornsandwaffles's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Death, Colonisation, Torture, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Sexism, Misogyny, Grief, Genocide, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Classism, War, and Violence

Moderate: Child death

shector1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative relaxing medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Colonisation, Alcoholism, War, Murder, Addiction, Blood, Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault

thebookishhedgewitch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Toxic relationship, Slavery, and Physical abuse

Minor: Murder and Rape

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

catherinedsharp's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was INCREDIBLE.

Firstly the writing style was impeccable and although the text fell into some cliche moments it was a book that you will get fully absorbed into. The description and detail is precise and well crafted.

The story itself is a very interesting one with twists and turns at every corner. Many things I didn’t see coming; especially the ending!! (I’m writing this review about 3 minutes after finishing as I’m so filled with adrenaline!) 

A very dark (so be careful with triggers etc) fantasy/sci-fi read with a fabulous premise and wonderful execution. I can’t wait to see what comes next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, War, Blood, Classism, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, and Violence