Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

47 reviews

ufollowbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

a bit of mary sue fanfic kind of vibe, but in a good way 

 

what a book! traditions from our world intertwined with technology you cannot fathom properly, sprinkled with female rage, political intrigues, surprisingly great romance, and, of course, brilliant writing. 

 

basically, it's "labour" by paris paloma, but in a book form. 

 

i already knew that there's a polyamory done right - it was the main reason i added this book to my tbr in all honesty - as well as disability rep, but damn! it was amazing and seeing a badass wheelchair user made my heart go "wheee" 🫶🏻 

 

it's definitely a very fast paced book, and an intense one, too. a lot of violence happening, but it never is just for the sake if violence, as it often happens with male-written fantasy. and yes, it felt much more like fantasy to me than as sci-fi, though there are element of it for sure. maybe because sci-fi to me is more about space and aliens, and there are little of that! 😅 

 

the ending felt a but rushed, and i can actually understand the motivation behind the way things end. discussing the ending in detail and with spoilers:

yes it's not very thought through and a lot of decisions are made here and now, but that's how the whole book is! Zetian is young, and emotional (in the best way possible!), and she has a lot of power for literally the first time in her life. she doesn't play the nuanced game, she never did - she comes in hot and does things the way she sees fit, without compromises. taking over control of the golden dragon and planning to overtake the country is very much in her character, so you're either ok with it or not. can't wait to read the second book to see how it all will be addressed!

 

the romance is... well. it's m/f/m triangle, but the proper one, where everyone is queer. gender identity is also mentioned, but the book did felt a bit too cis and straight to me, with only the main throuple being part of the lgbtq+ community. it didn't worsen the story, but looking back it was, indeed, a bit odd. on the other side, this also highlights once again that Zetian is different from people around her - and her partners are, too. overall, the romance is a pretty big part of the storyline.

 

❗️ beware, there will be a second book, and the story ends on a BIG cliffhanger! so if you're not ready to commit to thus - wait until 30th of april, 2024, when "Heavenly Tyrant" comes out. 

 

to summarise, a great book, which i can definitely recommend to those who like intense, fast-paced fantasy with elements of sci-fi and historical basis 

 

8/10 ⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Ableism, Alcohol, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and War

Moderate: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Torture, Classism, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Sexual violence, and Stalking

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Body shaming, Colonisation, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, and Medical content

helfire124's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Great book! Couldn't put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Alcohol, War, Violence, Alcoholism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Bullying, Medical content, Misogyny, Ableism, Gore, Racism, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual harassment, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

blackberryjambaby's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gore, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, War, Torture, Death, Gaslighting, Violence, Classism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Child abuse, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Outing, and Grief

walkie_check's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Murder, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: War, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Body horror, Xenophobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Torture, Sexual content, Racism, Classism, and Child death

Minor: Rape, Ableism, Pedophilia, Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, and Slavery

miggyfool's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Addiction, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Colonisation, Confinement, Drug abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Dysphoria, Medical trauma, Slavery, and War

cristina_margarita's review against another edition

adventurous 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

I with always root for feminine rage so Zetian was someone who was easy to get behind. I really appreciated how her initial mission was over so quickly & so much of the book was her constantly pivoting & honestly going a little power mad. 

The relationship development was so amusing to me because as a reader it was fairly obvious where it was heading but the characters are so oblivious. 

I couldn’t answer a single question you asked me about the chrysalises or the war; but the vibes were excellent!! I look forward to the sequel & the author’s inevitable book about the French Revolution.

This book majorly gave the hunger games for me despite them being so different 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Physical abuse, War, Confinement, Murder, Violence, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Body horror

xapoptosisx's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-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

This book deserves way more than 5 fucking stars genuinely like it deserves everything. I genuinely have am left speechless after reading it it was so so amazing and I just encourage everyone to read it at once.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Torture, Chronic illness, War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Physical abuse, Murder, Child abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Alcohol and Addiction

cathwolfiereads's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Chronic illness, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism

mlllll's review

adventurous dark mysterious relaxing sad 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? No

4.25

I really enjoyed The Iron Widow. It was compelling enough to keep me entertained as a reader throughout the story and to entice me enough to read the sequel. I do think the latter half of the book is a bit rushed.

Someone else wrote how the writer didn't add any measurements of time so it's hard to fall in love with the relationships portrayed because you don't know how slow or fast they developed and I do agree with that criticism. If time measurements would have been given, it would have helped make the relationships more believable.

That said, Zhao manages to create really loveable characters who you want to root for even though they aren't the most morally just ones and as someone who usually sticks to the morally white ones, it was interesting to see how I loved the characters that weren't morally white.

 

Lastly, Zhao created an amazing love triangle, honestly. One that developed very naturally and, in my opinion, wasn't written in a fetishizing way, which is often the case when polyamory is involved, unfortunately. This was also the first YA novel or novel in general that I read that included a poly throuple because it's still really underrepresented, so a shout-out to the Zhao for including that as well. 

So all in all, this wasn't a perfect book but I did really enjoy the romance aspect of it, which I never in a million years thought I'd say about a "love triangle" cuz I hate those. The latter part was a bit too rushed but overall I loved, loved, loved the enormous fury that the main protagonist has. Is it a healthy way to cope ... I'll leave that  up to interpretation but as a woman, her fury is so recognizable. It's this all-consuming feeling sometimes that always has to be kept under lock and key but she lets it out instead. And I freaking loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Addiction, Sexual violence, Murder, Misogyny, War, Violence, and Genocide

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Physical abuse, Genocide, and Death

souriete's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is  one that I should not like, yet I loved it. I prefer humorous or at least light-hearted relaxing reading. This is dark and full of anger and violence, some of the violence perpetrated by the main character. But I totally understand the anger the main character feels, and instead of letting that anger eat at her internally, she does something effective with that anger, starting with avenging the death of her sister. She does some pretty morally reprehensible things, but her victims are instruments of a system that systematically destroys all women within it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Torture, War, Sexual harassment, Violence, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault