Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang

16 reviews

emmachinami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Racism, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, and Racial slurs

fkshg8465's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-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

5.0

Beautifully written, a story that needed to be told. Will be gifting a copy to my niece. Worth reading through how the author decided to write this story. Historical fiction that probably happened to many Chinese women and Chinese citizens. Need to acknowledge it of part of US history too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Torture, Violence, Slavery, Police brutality, Murder, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Grief, and Confinement

anaiira's review against another edition

emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

What a tragic but beautifully written story. It's so obviously well researched and thought through. In a long string of tragedies, Daiyu stands as a beacon of resilience, as someone who deserves much better than she got, as someone who struggled to learn, to grow, to transform, not just because of the unceasing tide of adversity against her but to overcome as best she can, to make her life one that is meaningful and whole for her.

I thought the book was full of gorgeous lines and descriptions, from beginning to end. Even the way that the author describes the ocean, "the cotton roar of the beach... the sea breeze one exhale around us" or the way she describes the relationship of Daiyu's parents "the tides gently pushing them towards each other... an imperative from the water". I appreciate that the author includes trafitional stories, after all, in 4000 years of history, there are stories aplenty to include, but she also chose to retell a small personal one, about a grasshopper that the main character inadvertently tore apart, about how it was a lesson to be more gentle with the world, to do better, that not all the beauty of the world needs to be plucked and held in the hand, sometimes it is good to let it go.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Gun violence, Colonisation, Trafficking, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Violence, and Sexism

heatherjchin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Racism, Kidnapping, Rape, Trafficking, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Grief, Death of parent, Cursing, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Death, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Police brutality, Genocide, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse

Minor: Blood, Pregnancy, Deportation, and Vomit

cecilowo's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

hjesm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racial slurs, Torture, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Racism, Slavery, Death, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Xenophobia, Child abuse, and Trafficking

tcrivera12's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Racism, Torture, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, and Violence

cc0906's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Rape, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, and Slavery

Moderate: Abandonment, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Grief, Classism, Body shaming, Excrement, and Bullying

Minor: Torture, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

em8ly's review against another edition

I decided not to finish this one. The beginning of the book was well written and intriguing, but the portions surrounding the brothel were too much for me to read at this time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Classism, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Deportation, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Slavery, and Cultural appropriation

cait's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, War, and Xenophobia