Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Iron Widow

Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

347 reviews

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.

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auntquinoa's review

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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??

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the_vegan_bookworm's review

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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

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griminycricket's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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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ancestrallizard's review

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dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

This feminist retelling of the rise of Wu Zetian was everything. It makes you really think about misogyny, gender-based violence, and binary gender roles in such an interesting and action-packed way.

You’ll find yourself furious throughout the book with how many times women’s pain, suffering and lives are seen as necessary sacrifice zones for the “good” of society. I especially loved Wu Zeitan’s badasss spirit, thirst for justice & the poly romance 🔥

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