Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Iron Widow - Seele in Ketten by Xiran Jay Zhao

28 reviews

corabookworm's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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The majority of this book was like if George Orwell wrote queer feminist fantasy, and the last part was  toxic romance and sex and fast-paced action. I honestly enjoyed this book, though I felt like it was missing a lot of things I loved from Iron Widow. The love interests are totally different (Shimin is simply not present (BRING SHIMIN BACK), while Yihzi is an asshole and has no chemistry with Zetian) and the feminine rage, while there, doesn't get to be quite as murderous and crazy. It was at least interesting commentary on politics and what a post-revolution government would look like, and while I'm still a bit confused by the ending, I look forward to reading the sequel. Definitely a good book, just didn't pack as much punch as the first. 

Also, note: This book is much more adult than the first, I would not classify it as YA. Maybe NA.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Classism

SPOILERS AHEAD!! This book picks up after the events of the first, and focuses on the political instability after revolution. There are lots of mentions of death/executions/torture, as well as riots, economic instability, etc.. Zetian continues fighting for women's rights, which involves misogyny, talks of domestic abuse, and curing disabilities when they find a way to reverse footbinding. Another big plot point is pregnancy, with mentions of abortion and miscarriages, as Zetian is forced to fake a pregnancy and her eggs are stolen without her consent to impregnate someone else. Several sex scenes that are written as violent though consensual. Battle scenes, death, war, etc..

champagnerain's review against another edition

1.5

Loveable characters: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Abortion, Pregnancy

sirpandacat's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous mysterious tense

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, War, Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Xenophobia, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol

hannah_is_reading's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Absolutely wild in the best way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy

Moderate: Abortion

kmart_ceo's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark 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

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I don’t think the sequel is as good as the first book. Maybe that’s just because there’s WAYYYY more going on and

there was no Shimin (for the most part)

. The plot twists had my jaw dropping, and I started having a hard time keeping track of who I am supposed to hate. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Abortion, Pandemic/Epidemic

orion_allthoughts's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual content, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Dysphoria

Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, Abortion, Alcohol

chanlo1994's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Rated it a step lower because the pace was slow for my personal liking. I think this is going to be a very important book for 2025, especially with the new polical cycle we will be facing. Honestly. My first thought was "this is what happens when we let children be in control of a government" 😂 I am absolutely looking forward to book 3. It's also important to note that bodily consent is not limited to sexual acts. It's includes anything done to your body with or without your knowledge and this is violated several times in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Abortion

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Trafficking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic