Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

5 reviews

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense 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? Yes

4.0

I was hesitant to read this because of how dark the last Yoon Ha Lee book I read was, but I’m glad I did because I loved it. The paint magic system was alarming and awesome, and the unexpected connections were interesting throughout. Loved the tie-ins with Korean folklore and the non-binary rep. I wish things with Hawk had been a little more developed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Gun violence, Genocide, Physical abuse, War, Confinement, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Blood

Moderate: Medical content, Grief, and Torture

anonymous_traveller's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Colonisation, Excrement, Cursing, Vomit, Torture, Confinement, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Violence, Slavery, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, War, Sexual content, Murder, Medical content, Genocide, and Drug use

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous tense 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, War, and Confinement

Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual content, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Torture, Xenophobia, Genocide, and Medical content

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, and Vomit

martinatan's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Here’s my jumble of thoughts upon finishing Phoenix Extravagant: I was really excited about the concept of this book but I hit a point about two thirds of the way through where I started to dread the direction of the story. The ending turned out unsatisfying and for some reason I did not really enjoy where the message and conclusion landed. I felt the magic system was quite shallow even though I really liked the setting and the focus on art. The pacing was also quite shaky and the plot moved a lot faster than I anticipated. At the same time, I often felt some included scenes were unnecessary while other pivotal moments were glossed over in favor of somewhat distracted passages that diverted my attention from a throughline. I was also confused by the main character’s internal monologue and could not get a handle on their convictions and values, or their approach and ideology in their life. There were times they seemed to use humor but this didn’t feel consistent throughout the narration. I feel as if the author could have thought more about the pacing and overall tone of the novel as it came off as scattered and uneven.

Overall I found the non-Western-centric culture and history of Hwaguk and Razan as well as the main characters’ profiles to be interesting and a breath of fresh air in contemporary fantasy. I also appreciated how integrated queer characters and relationships were in the story although, since so much else of the world in the book reflected our current society—namely some conventions that characters held about love, ancestry, and family—I wondered whether it was appropriate to have such a lack of in-universe discrimination towards LGBT characters. I still like the book for the representation it offered but there were too many things that did not sit right with me for me to rave about the reading experience.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Torture, Murder, Colonisation, and Confinement

Minor: Gun violence, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Cannibalism, and Alcohol

madarauchiha's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

 ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜  my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️

I loved this book so fucking much!! I'm trying not to spoil it here. I loved everyone's characterization in this. I had been a little tired of dystopias and civil wars and rebelling against semi faceless governments. This plot was tweaked enough that it was refreshing and interesting to engage with. At times the plot felt a little convenient but not enough to be irritating.

content warnings:
medium NSFW scenarios, gore, murder, violence, emetophobia / vomit, massacre, mass murder, genocide, ethnic cleansing, 

major: colonization, wars, imprisonment, imprisonment, heights, outer space, poison, manipulation, emotional abuse, violence, torture, gore, violence, spiders?,

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Violence, Torture, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual content, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Murder, and Genocide