Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Iron Widow

Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

emoweaboo's review

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

I support women's right but I mostly support women's wrongs

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itsame_dio's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

The story doesn't show any sympathy for other women. The main character is very judgemental of other women and how they aren't loudly standing up to the misogyny but she doesn't take into consideration any of their circumstances like their class status or how their ethnicity. Other than that, there's no character development, she stays angry ( rightfully so ) throughout the whole book and we only kinda get to know 1 of the love interests.

We get all of Li Shimin's back story but all we know of Yizhi is that he looks pretty and has tattoos and that's all lol. Then they get together ( after Zetian spent 80% of the book HATING Shimin ) and right after Shimin dies smdh the romance felt pretty rushed

However based on the YA that was popular when I was in HS this one note-ness is par for the course tbh. In other books, the MC's one character trait is being so kind and pure that she could heal every emotionally stunted boy's heart in a 50mi radius, in this book Zetian's character trait is being angry as hell

and murder

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daenarvelaryon1's review

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I loved the idea of the story and Xiran Jay Zhao's smart marketing certainly sold me on the book. Unfortunately, I feel like the book did not live up to the hype on social media.

The writing style is a bit sloppy, unrefined and needs to be worked on. The dialogue was occassionally incredibly cringy. The message of the story could have been handled and presented in a better, subtler way. And don't even get me started on the ending (felt like the publisher basically forced the author into writing a sequel). Xiran also needs to start showing things instead of telling.

If I had to compare the story to an already existing work, it really felt like an average fanfiction from AO3 or Wattpad (I have no doubt that Xiran has experience with writing fanfiction and it shows in the book too). If that works for you, then you will very likely enjoy the story.

I really wanted to like this book because I love Xiran's content. Ultimately, it was a fun ride, but I would not recommend this book for someone looking for a high quality story.

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alixandwrites's review

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

3.5

first person pov (book turn off of mine) but i really liked it

even if she went from killing one dude to. like everyone.

it wasn’t reliant on the relationships while still making them enjoyable

yizhi and shimin 🫶🫶

the plot was fun. probably won’t reread it for awhile but it was good. i’ve been meaning to get to it for like a year though and the prologue? uninteresting compared to the rest, for real.

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dragonbornsandwaffles's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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uraveragelesbianreader's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

This book is like a roller coaster. Every high leads to a dizzying low and when it's over far sooner than you expected your hair is in your face, your latest meal in your throat, you can't tell left from right up from down and swear that there was no reason the final drop needed to be that big. When my close friend recommended this book she said that it 'reads a bit like a first draft' and that may be the best way to sum up my criticism for this book. Some of the scenes feel hasty and almost like you're watching them at 1.5x speed. However I do not actually fully blame the author for this as I think this books popularity on tiktok rushed them into keeping a strict release schedule when it could've benefited from a little more polishing. All that being said this book doesnt read like a 'written for tiktok' book and I didnt often find myself cringing at scenes or wishing that a scene would just be over already. I think the way this book is marketed does it a disservice. Wu is not a 'morally grey' protagonist. She does things that are objectively morally wrong BUT justifiable in her circumstances. It is very much a 'good for her' moment whenever she lashes, out but she is by no means morally grey and thats okay. Had she been marketed to me this way I think I would have read this book sooner and not let it rot on my TBR for nearly 3 months. On the note of incorrect marketing, I often see this book marketed as queer and although that is not WRONG it does require further nuance. This book is written by a queer author and all of the 3 main characters are bisexual however only MLM romance is explored explicitly and only very briefly. This is completely fine, fits the narrative and I dont feel further inclusion of queerness would add to or hurt the story I just want people reading this book to have realistically set expectations. On the note of romance it was skilfully done. Seeing someone so beautifully perfect a genuine enemies to lovers story line AND a friends to lovers story line was wonderfully refreshing and the polyamory element was exciting. Everyone always says that they want a genuine love triangle (all 3 involved in love with one another) and this is exactly what this book gives you. My personal advice is to go into this book as blind as possible and block out the time to read it all in one sitting because as it mentioned earlier IT IS FAST. I read it across 3 days and ended up having to reread at least a chapter every time I started again, if you prefer slow burn and careful delicate world and character building, this is not the book for you. That is however not to say that I think the pace hurt the story, I think a slow pace would feel out of place for a book like this. The pace serves the narrative wonderfully and is skilfully used by the author. This book feels like a scream written down on paper it is a violent rage against the qualms of the female experience and it is wonderful. As someone who typically shys away from scifi I would read a million sci-fi books if they were done half as tactfully as this one. The world building is gripping and the power system is easy to understand but somehow not simple or boring. The duelling threats facing the main character adds multiple layers of tension that at times feel like more could be done with but are not underutilised by any means underused. I would recommend this book to those bored by typical sci-fi, looking for a unique take on historical tales and fantasy readers wishing to branch out their taste. I am already waiting to preorder the second book and I cannot wait to see what is done with this series

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ireadqueerbooks's review

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adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

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itshrewsbury's review

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adventurous funny inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Ever wanted to go absolutely feral but didn’t have the power to do it? Not this MC!

It is so wonderful to have a such a diverse cast of characters and a 100% new and refreshing plot. If you liked RF Kuang’s Poppy War series, I cannot stress enough how much you’ll like this one too!

Also, Zhao includes her own trigger warnings on the first page of the book, which is HUGE and greatly appreciated!

16+

TW/CW: mutilation (foot binding), child abuse, murder, misogyny, war, drug abuse (alcoholism), mention of rape, torture

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