Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

43 reviews

escape_to_reality's review

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective

• 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

This book has been on my TBR for a while and I'm happy I picked it up. It has an intense story that feels new and exciting, with characters that are very well developed. The relationships are not super deep, the focus is on the plot, which I liked.

Allowing Zetian to be absolutely unhinged was amazing, that she broke the mold so thoroughly. The plot twist of the hunduns being the original habitants of the planet is something I'm excited to see develop on coming books <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Racism, War, Misogyny, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Confinement, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Minor: Fatphobia and Rape

gaynidoking's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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, Physical abuse, War, Addiction, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Rape, Domestic abuse, Death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Sexual assault

Minor: Fatphobia, Racism, Confinement, and Body shaming

chanlo1994's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Classism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Death, Ableism, Alcohol, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Misogyny, War, Trafficking, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexism, and Confinement

Moderate: Rape and Panic attacks/disorders

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

nere's review

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

tuesday, august 8, 2023
there is something about this genre and subgenres that demands homage or reference to trope. iron widow seems to deny you any satisfaction in this regard. anytime you think you know where the story is going Zhao takes you somewhere else. its refreshing but also disruptive to the part of my brain that demands structure from my genre fiction 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Murder, War, and Misogyny

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Rape, and Gun violence

Minor: Vomit and Fatphobia

iane_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-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? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Ableism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Child death, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Torture, Murder, War, and Hate crime

Moderate: Classism, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Xenophobia, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, and Trafficking

Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Infidelity, Death of parent, Deportation, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content

justmys's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

I enjoyed the world the story took place in. The premise and intrigue but I wish there had been more of it.
Everything happens so fast and so easily (???) that it just felt...like watching a movie adaptation of a novel?
I didn't like the main character. I wanted to.

But every time she opened her mouth I cringed at her. She was not the cold genius she I thought she was. She was manipulated and easily played and only accomplished what she did because of the men around her. She never did anything herself.

If there's another book set in the same world I'll read it. It's an easy read and a decent idea for a story. I just hope we get to delve further in and read a novel instead of watching the YA movie version.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, War, Abandonment, Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, Child abuse, Death, Fatphobia, and Misogyny

Moderate: Gore, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

analenegrace's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I went into this with high hopes because of the hype it's gotten, and perhaps that's why I didn't like it as much as I hoped I would. 

It felt like too much telling and not showing, and almost all of the characters felt one-dimensional, including our narrator, whose inner dialogue was at times confusing and was expressing a type of feminism that is incredibly one-dimensional. 

The "plot twist" at the end felt obvious to me as I've seen it in many other novels of this type, but I am interested in reading the sequel to see how the author ends the story they've created here. 

I appreciated the polyam relationship and am also looking forward to seeing what the author does with their relationship in the second book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Rape, Classism, Confinement, Addiction, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, War, Sexual violence, and Violence

aolney's review

challenging 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Addiction, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, and Torture

Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Sexual assault, Body horror, Grief, Domestic abuse, War, Ableism, Body shaming, Murder, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

kerrygetsliterary's review

adventurous dark inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Alcoholism, Cursing, Grief, Misogyny, Body shaming, Classism, Colonisation, Murder, Torture, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape