Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Iron Widow - Seele in Ketten by Xiran Jay Zhao

71 reviews

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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: Yes

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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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dark emotional tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

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slow-paced

There are a number of things I enjoyed about this sequel, but... it's just too long. It could have been a lot stronger with a structural edit. A lot of this has to do with the time spent explaining the political situation. It's not that I would jettison that entirely—it is interesting to see Zetian grappling with these trade-offs and the consequences of the 'revolution'—but it went WAY overboard and badly needed to be reigned in before going to print.

So the pacing dragged, and I had to drag myself through reading this. When we occasionally got back to the character dynamics that interested me most, each time I felt less invested. And that's even when there were some damn good twists and turns! It was so bogged down getting to those points. By the time we get an emotional catharsis in the finale, my heart just wasn't in it anymore. I hate to say it but this was a real letdown.

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

Wow, this series cranks to 100 with every addition. An interesting remaining of a sci-fi flavored history. These characters are flawed and some i love and some I love to hate. Excited for the next addition 

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adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Xiran Jay Zhao rapidly became one of my favorite authors.  I am also Chinese American and I have learned so much about my heritage and culture from them.  I'm a fan of their writing and social media presence.  They are vocally Pro-Palestine and speak out on other global issues.

We've waited so long for the sequel (the author talks about why that was on their social media) and it's finally here!  It's filled with action, mechas, complex power struggles, political action, revolution, destroying the patriarchy, and eating the rich.  

The exposition was great and engaging.  I was immediately sucked in.  Even in parts where it got heavily political, I was still into it because I agree with the author's stance on politics and our need for a revolution.  Qin Zheng was a great addition to the cast.  He's a formidable opponent/ally to Zetian and the power struggle between them is interesting.  In the times that it read as a manifesto, it took me out of the story a bit.  I wanted it to be more integrated in the story and I think readers who kind of get these concepts and ideas would have an easier time absorbing and thinking about them.  I think a lot of the scenes were necessary and interesting, like
going to Shimin's old home
.  However, I also felt like this book was too long.  While I don't read books longer than 350 pages often, I think the book could've been shorter without sacrificing the plot or message.

They kind of lost me in the last 75 pages.  I was honestly a little confused about the setting and the things they encounter.  While it is a sci-fi, I felt like it broke my mind a bit and challenged what I thought, but that was happening to Zetian so I experienced what she did.  I don't mind the ending, I wasn't sure how it was going to wrap up anyways.  BUT we got a lovely "To be continued" so Zetian story continues!!!

I like the first book more, but this was still a strong sequel!  I'm still waiting and hoping for a screen adaptation because seeing this story visually come to life would be incredible.

Make sure you check the author's social media and website to make the author's amendment to page 434.  Right after the line,
"It's YOUR turn," the author would like to change the next lines to, "We can sculpt anything out of spirit metal. I could even FEEL through it. We can make this work." The author wants to make it crystal clear that Qin Zheng is getting pegged.  We stan.
You can download and print the amendment from their website.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings