Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

344 reviews

dandelionsteph's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

I know this is YA, but I was shocked that there was only swearing at about 134 pages in. I thought I'd be able to get through a whole YA book without it having any swearing. I always find swearing out of place, like a 14-year-old boy allowed to watch "grown-up" media going overboard and playing at being an adult. I've seen similar levels of brutality in lower age audiences without swearing (say, Animorphs of Wings of Fire).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Death, Torture, Grief, and Cursing

Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Biphobia, and Bullying

Minor: Body shaming and Pregnancy

d3vilsw0lf's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad 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

I can't believe I waited this long to read Iron Widow! The female rage and defiance against a world meant to cage, Wu Zetian is fearsome and determined and refuses to let anyone stop her. 
The hints of the ending and how well it sets up Heavenly Tyrant, I can't wait for it to release. It will definitely be a read same day as publication for book 2. 
If you haven't picked this up yet or are only thinking about it, don't think anymore and just read! Both the book and Xiran J y Zhao are deserving of a HUGO award and so much more.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, and Torture

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape

mars_loves_books's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Murder, Torture, War, Violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Moderate: Rape

moonsongsiren's review

I was going to write a much more in depth review of this book, but seeing how i dnf’d at 174 pages i don’t think i’m fully qualified to do so. i went into this book with high expectations, and was prepared for an exciting and compelling story. i was not met with such a story. 
the main character is not complex, she is unlikable, and incredibly misogynistic to the girls around her. her love interests at the point i stopped reading were.. mediocre. she is poor “representation” if you can even call her that, but i understand and appreciate that this book was written with a LOT of heart and a LOT of effort was put into it. But that does not make a good story. 
What was truly the last straw for me was the main character forcing herself upon one of her love interests (does not, at any point ask him for consent, and he even tells her to stop and wait and she does not comply). To me, that sends the exact opposite message that the book was trying to send. 
Over all, EXTREMELY disappointing. i would not recommend this to anyone, there is simply too much it is lacking. but for a debut novel that was clearly a loved passion project, it serves that purpose. 
it is self indulgent for the author, it has a very bare bones emotion that drives the story, and it barely scratches the surface of the message it WANTS to convey. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexism, Child death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Genocide, Bullying, Murder, Gore, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, War, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

lyr1cal's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Body horror, Alcohol, and Death of parent

Moderate: Rape, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, and Sexual assault

sleeping_roses's review

adventurous 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

4.5

She actually did a proper love triangle! Not just an angle like most other 'love triangle' books. Also I love the way all 3 main characters complement an contrast one another.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Violence, Physical abuse, Addiction, Murder, Misogyny, Alcoholism, War, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Sexism, and Torture

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Biphobia, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

natraf_reads's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

5.0

This was one of the easiest five stars I’ve ever given. I was OBSESSED with this book from start to finish!! I could not get enough. From the first page I was hooked!! Exceptionally written, I would absolutely recommend this book!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Violence, War, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Classism, Death, War, Physical abuse, Addiction, Blood, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault and Slavery

Foot binding, forced sex work

creolelitbelle's review against another edition

I listened to 5 hours of this over 12 hour audiobook, and I came to realize that I was bored. When given an opportunity to listen to the book or do anything else, I repeatedly rather listen to music or hear nothing. The premise of Pacific Rim meets Handmaid's Tale is a little intriguing. Sci-fi like Pacific Rim is not the kind of story I gravitate towards, but the Handmaid's Tale aspect of it sparked my interest. Despite an interesting premise, the action did not deliver. With as exciting as the world is presented, there should probably be more world building and/or action than all the constant spoken/ thought narration that we're given. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail

auntquinoa's review

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.5

The plot in this book is a marvel, especially from chapter 39 to the end (excluding the epilogue). I’m impressed by the world building and surreal sci-fi depiction. 
The character development is was makes this book somewhat immature. The protagonists internal voice is repetitive and doesn’t question her own biases while holding every person around their to theirs (which is her undoing in the aforementioned epilogue). There is ZERO character development in any of the main characters - a striking decision. They never question themselves while trying to wade through very complicated dynamics. At times the dialogue is just downright cringy (page 331 especially). 
I read the acknowledgements and understand this book flipped between adult and YA. The faults of the book lie entirely in that indecision by the agent/author/publisher. This is a dark, dark book. Concubine and slavery depictions require nuance which YA doesn’t typically have. The darkness, violence and downright gore do not enmesh well with the immature dispositions of the characters of all ages. It made the book very hard to read without laughing, cringing, or becoming frustrated. 
Overall a very bizarre read that somehow still kept me hooked. You must read it for yourself to decide. Does that make it a complete success??

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Gore, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and War

the_vegan_bookworm's review

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Sexism, Grief, Child abuse, Murder, Death, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual content