Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

181 reviews

heather_harrison's review

adventurous challenging fast-paced

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

3.25

Read for: 
- if you like Pacific Rim 
- Alt-history 
- Asian, poly & bisexual rep 
- alt-world with little background

Skip for: 
-YA dystopia cliches 
- under developed main character
- a book about patriarchy that barely passes the Bechdel Test & has a 2D female MC who is “not like other other girls” and is blatantly misogynistic 
- expositional and tactless conversations 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Addiction, War, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Torture

mossgoblins's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Grief, Confinement, Death, Murder, Torture, Addiction, Alcohol, Misogyny, Violence, War, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Body horror, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Rape

pengintoppa's review

adventurous tense

4.5

worldbuilding is interesting, i liked the 3 main characters. it was cool to read scifi set in china by a chinese author. some of the messaging felt a little heavy-handed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Rape, Slavery, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Sexism, War, Misogyny, and Police brutality

Moderate: Torture, Sexual content, Colonisation, Body shaming, Trafficking, Racism, and Emotional abuse

recurring mention/description of the long-term crippling effects of footbinding. the racism/xenophobia is directed at non-han chinese ethnic groups. sexism/misogyny is a lot of the driving force of most of the plot.

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).

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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

kristenityyy's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, War, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexism

Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Police brutality, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Grief, Body shaming, Homophobia, and Gun violence

jonghyun4life's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-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

3.5

An easy read to be honest. I ended up liking the side characters more than the FMC. The book is very feminist, with a strong headed female main character and her two softy bfs. Her bfs were quite adorable. I'm not sure where Zetian expressed her desire to rule the world in the whole book except that last chapter. And now they r supposedly in another planet that isn't theirs. Very interesting development.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Sexism

Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Torture

Minor: Body shaming and Sexual harassment

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

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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

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

valjeanval's review

adventurous dark 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

4.0

Well, it was better than I thought it would be. As my book club has started talking more about the four doorways of reading (Character, Plot, Setting, Writing), I'm coming to realize more and more that without that Writing doorway, I just have a hard time getting into a book. 

This book is extremely cinematic in a way that if it was an anime or graphic novel where I could actually see the Chrysalises and watch the battle scenes, I'd probably be pretty into it. The ruthless female anti-hero is a trope that I'm glad is gaining more traction. In the romance aspects of the book,

the pro-poly anti-love triangle take is a great way to turn YA fiction on its head even if the Shimin/Yizhi romance didn't really get enough attention to feel at all believable.

So plot and character-wise, it's pretty good. The world-building is all right too. I think it's just the language including occasional modern phrases that feel so anachronistic to the setting that grated on me. The ending also was pretty abrupt and included so much new information that felt rushed to me. So I don't know. I think it's a good book that just wasn't really for me. It is a shame that it was disqualified in the Hugo debacle this year because as literature aimed at a young adult audience, I think it is making some very important moves and deserved that recognition.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexism, Ableism, Alcoholism, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Addiction, Grief, Misogyny, Torture, War, and Violence

Minor: Body shaming, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail