Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

84 reviews

lemonwrlds's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Vomit, War, Body shaming, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Torture, Bullying, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Alcoholism, Genocide, Gore, Body horror, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Confinement, Death of parent, Ableism, Blood, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

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

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

sissizc's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Domestic abuse, Death, Alcoholism, and Bullying

Moderate: Sexual harassment

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

This book was a lot of fun and validating for me. Is like The Iron Widow was able to say how I feel about the patriarchy in the ways I wish I could. She’s the best hero! Looking forward to reading the sequel when it comes out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Gore, Kidnapping, Rape, War, Bullying, Drug use, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Classism, Death, and Suicide

angelfireeast24's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

 A disabled queer feminist hero who took no shit and served endless power despite deep discrimination and injustice told within a sci-fi world of robots vs aliens. 5 stars Highly recommend reading 

It is an epic story of a world shaped by discrimination and sexism. A woman dares to change the world by refusing the horrible role society has assigned her. The world seems like one thing and quickly stands out as something altogether different. Nothing is as it appears. I was rooted in the story of Wu Zetian even as I sometimes had to look away and take a break from all the angst. Wu Zetian never stops fighting patriarchy and injustice. As the story develops, so do Wu Zetian's views on feminism and the characters around her. It goes hand in hand as her worldview changes throughout the book. I was supposed to be shocked and perhaps conflicted about a few things that happened by finding I was 100% behind our heroes. Near the end, twist after twist leaves me desperate for more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Grief, Gaslighting, War, Xenophobia, Ableism, Body shaming, Sexism, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Violence, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, Child abuse, and Body horror

alex_salamander's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, War, and Sexism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Torture

Minor: Fatphobia, Grief, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Ableism, Body shaming, Rape, Slavery, Physical abuse, and Bullying

matturay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

I don't usually read sci-fi, but this book grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Medical content, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, Blood, Cursing, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Ableism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Bullying, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Rape, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Classism, War, Colonisation, Gore, and Sexual harassment

oliviathebookwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, War, Murder, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Body horror, Colonisation, Cursing, Gore, Ableism, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcoholism, Genocide, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Gun violence

iwephay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful 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: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Murder, Grief, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Blood, Sexism, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture