Reviews with content warning for Torture - Iron Widow - Seele in Ketten

Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Iron Widow - Seele in Ketten by Xiran Jay Zhao

71 reviews

lucypunzel's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

yizhi high heels, i adore you

Content Warnings

elenikin's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

What a follow up to Iron Widow! It definitely had a different vibe- it's wasn't full time female rage and mecha- smash-things, but there still were elements of that vibe in this book. It was interesting to see how Huaxia changed after the old regime was overthrown, and I felt like sometimes it was almost like a foreshadowing of what could happen if capitalism was overthrown semi-violently. I really liked to see what Zetian did to try to uplift women. Qin Zheng grew on me, to the point where I was pretty much rooting for him and Zetian to make it work...

but I should have expected her to not fully bow down to him, so that crazy ending shouldn't have been a surprise! But man, I had whiplash with Yizhi and his various betrayals, and like Zetian, I lost my trust in him. But wow, what an ending! I had pretty much guessed that the gods were just more advanced beings/society but not really gods, but it was interesting to see how that interaction panned out! Also, does this mean there will be more books? I thought it was a planned duology, but now I'm not sure!

Overall, I continued to enjoy Zhao's writing style and world building, and I liked the revolution vibes. Definitely a worthy follow up after the excellence that is Iron Widow!

Content Warnings

kestrelfire's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The world building and writing is really strong but all the politics is a lot to keep track of.

Content Warnings

meens_reads's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I needed 2 days to sit with my thoughts after I finished this book. I was left really conflicted after I finished, however it was still a 5 star read for me.
Having time to think about it, I enjoy that Zetian is flawed and doesn't have all the answers. It's refreshing to see a MC that has a ultimate goal but still figuring things out. A lot of this book was Zetian learning and relearning what she was brought up to think and trying to fix a broken system, while fighting battles on 2 sides as well as internally battling her biases. However her main goals did not change, if the book ended differently I think this would go against her core character.
Qin Zheng, Qin Zheng, I surprisingly enjoyed his character and looked forward to chapters where he was present, which is why I'm conflicted! I understand but I'm still conflicted 😂

I thoroughly enjoyed the journey Xiran took us on, expanding both on the world and the characters, new and old. I liked that we learned post coup with Zetian and I'm looking forward to the next one!

Content Warnings

juniperbranches's review against another edition

4.0

dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I LOVE that Zeitian maintained So much of her feminine rage. Loved how hateable but reasonable Qin Zheng was. I’m a big fan of sneaking conversations about power wealth and consent into a YA novel but comes off a little dry and educational in some spots. I can’t decide if I like where the author seems to be directing the series, but I like that scope they’ve given the story.

Content Warnings

hopeless_ash's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I knew this book was likely to be a cliffhanger again, but goddamnit I didn’t want to be right. More pain, less polyamory in this book vs the last. Much slower than the first, and more dealings with politics(not that politics wasn’t present in Iron Widow). Iron Widow was very sad at points for me, but this one read much sadder overall IMO. Definitely lived up to my hopes for it, and I will be impatiently waiting the third book.

Content Warnings