Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

398 reviews

xx_salem's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

The book was good but the main character upset me in a lot of her choices, I recognized she was tied but I wanted to see her put more on the line and take more and honestly be more evil. It got better in the end, I really liked the twist, but at the same time it took all of the sting out of the book, as if her actions didn’t really have consequences. I didn’t really feel sadness or attachments to any of the characters and really wished the Iron Widow didn’t feel as if she was made out to be the one truly strong girl, I wanted to see more scary powerful women if only in little actions behind the scenes. And all the love felt rushed and awkward and the lack of chemistry I felt was excused by this idea of accepting her sexuality, it’s a nice concept but felt really weirdly executed and off in this romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, War, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gaslighting, Sexism, Alcohol, Classism, Murder, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Confinement, Addiction, Ableism, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Death of parent

mari1532's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I had first heard about the author when I stumbled upon them scrolling Instagram one day. I was immediately in love with their content and put the audiobook on hold at my library. Due to the book’s popularity, I spent several months waiting. 

It was not only the author’s online content that intrigued me about their book. The descriptions I had read online described it as a science fiction book with loose references to China’s first Empress, Wu Zetian. 

After finally reading it I can safely say, that I adored this book. It is full of political intrigue, messy relationships, and glimmers of historical references. The way that Jay Zhao writes is enthralling and by providing the reader with guide posts about the characters’ motivations/feelings and leads you along with the growth and development of the character without explicitly telling you what is going on. For instance, when Zetian has a confrontation with another female pilot in the bath, I was able to feel the character’s confusion, rage, and compassion in the scene and through the dialogue I was able to understand why various characters reacted the way that they did. Each of their characters is deliciously complex and Jay Zhao’s writing is exceptional.

I liked that there was a polyamorous relationship rather than a love triangle. It was a completely natural development and it was great that there was no focus on the development in the book. The relationships simply evolved and that was just the way it was. 

There were several plot twists throughout the book that I did find unexpected and it made me want to keep reading. Jay Zhao’s plotting of this book was just exceptional and I am so excited for the next installment of the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Confinement, Grief, Gaslighting, War, Death, Addiction, Blood, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Violence, Alcohol, and Forced institutionalization

julbel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Intense experience of one young woman's struggle in a system that views her as no more than fuel for an endless war. 
The quick pace of the book does leave me wishing for more moments of quiet, which are few and brief, to get a sense of the characters outside of turmoil. Zetian, Shimin and Yizhi are compelling characters, with much potential for further development of depth (and hopefully *some* down time to figure out who they are when they aren't trying to overthrow the government). 
Looking forward to the continuation of this story in the next book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, War, Alcoholism, Torture, Child death, Classism, Death, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

keeley_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse

krystaldelusion's review against another edition

dark emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Violence, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Misogyny, and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual assault and Body shaming

missymoo93's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

DARK. It starts dark and barely ever gets better. Clearly cathartic for the author, and a solid rage piece against our unjust world.
 The action is fairly disorienting to the point of being truly hard to follow, and motivations for characters other than the main three often fall into an abyss of "I [the POV character] have barely any idea what's happening, so neither will the reader."
As someone who has also experienced similar suicidal thoughts and ideation to the main character, it was represented with upsetting accuracy and depicted honestly.
All in all, a good first book, but not my favorite, and I am hesitant to return due to the tone, despite the tantalizing out-of-nowhere bombshell cliffhanger dropped in the last literal two pages of the epilogue that offered a glimpse of the only lore questions that remained for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Torture, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Child death

pythonesque's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

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

1.5

+the presence of polyamory in the plot
+Robots
-Everything else

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexism, War, and Emotional abuse

max_audet's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

The world-building felt rushed, especially at the end with all the reveals. Nevertheless, the righteous rage, character developments, and overall themes made it an interesting and refreshing read.

I hope the next volume allows the author to solidify the worldbuilding and stabilize the pacing issue.

The blurb mentions that this is Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid’s Tale, but in my opinion, it has much more in common with Darling in the Franxx than Pacific Rim. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Body horror

Minor: Rape

franksreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Gaslighting, Violence, Misogyny, Colonisation, Confinement, Sexism, War, Death, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Murder

divydes's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Body horror

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Sexual assault