Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Jade City by Fonda Lee

40 reviews

daydream_e's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.75

Amazing characters who are deeply flawed and yet so easy to care about. Excellent portrayal of civil war and the complexities of post-colonial development, as well as international politics - I’m  considering recommending this to my undergraduate comparative politics students as an enjoyable way to consider how natural resources, colonial history, corruption and crime, and international politics interact. Particularly given the author has no academic history/polisci background, it’s incredibly impressive that she was able to create a fictional world with such realistic politics, and it speaks to what must be an incredible grasp of colonial and post-colonial Asian history. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Addiction, Violence, Drug use, Murder, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Gun violence

Moderate: War, Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, Xenophobia, Racism, Colonisation, Sexism, Misogyny, Mental illness, Dementia, Death of parent, Suicide, and Gore

Minor: Homophobia

Racism, xenophobia, war, and colonization are within the context of a fictional country with obvious real world analogues, but not one-to-one with real life events. Mental illness and drug use/addiction are also within the context of a fictional drug. Violence and injury is often very explicit - think hard R rated action movie - but not dwelled on excessively. Grief is a major theme throughout the book for many characters BIG SPOILER:

including the death of a POV character

lisafer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Suicide, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, Drug use, Death, and Blood

unboxedjack's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Mental illness, and Violence

Minor: Suicide attempt, Sexism, Self harm, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Racism

bearystarry's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I'm extremely emotionally attached to all of the main characters and am a little terrified to read the next two books, not gonna lie. I think the characterizations and descriptions are so well done... ugh. I love it.

I cried multiple times at Lan's death and how people mourned him afterward as well. Oof. Honestly stunning emotional writing in that sense.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Drug use, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Kidnapping, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Mental illness, Murder, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, and Gun violence

Moderate: Pedophilia, Fatphobia, and Ableism

ender24's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.25

Pretty good! Loved the characters, the plot was a tad slow to me but that’s probably from reading much faster books recently.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Murder, and War

szuum's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, Grief, Violence, Addiction, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Dementia, and Animal death

Minor: Homophobia, Death of parent, Pedophilia, and Suicide

ripxw's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide

Minor: Sexual content and Death of parent

serena_hien's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Drug abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny and War

Minor: Rape, Pedophilia, Death of parent, and Suicide

theespressoedition's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.5

The most important thing that I need to convey in this review is that while this is a slow book, it is really incredible to read. Typically, I would quickly lose interest in a book that primarily focuses on political intrigue. Not the case with Jade City. Despite each chapter taking somewhere around 30 minutes to read, I was still so hooked by what was taking place that I didn’t want to put it down. I was constantly thinking about it when I wasn't reading it, wondering what would happen next. So, if the size of the book or the intense content is frightening to you, I say give it a try anyway. You might be pleasantly surprised like I was!

There is a lot to follow in this book and I worried about losing track of the many characters or their importance to the story. Sometimes, there are full chapters that are told from the perspective of a side character. Initially, I was confused by this. Why would there be a heavy focus on such random, seemingly unimportant people? But I'm glad I didn't give up on trying to understand what was happening. Every single chapter makes a difference. Every single character furthers the story, no matter how small their role is.

I'm currently under the assumption that the only reason I don't fully understand the jade magic is because this was only the first book and it's meant to come into play later on. However, I would have liked just a little more explanation of that and even the way the shine drug affected those who used it. There were moments that helped me understand bits and pieces, but certain deaths left me reeling because I had no clue what the true cause was.

The political intrigue was what, shockingly, kept my attention the most. I was fascinated by the gang war and what was happening on either side to induce further violence and panic. The ranks of the Green Bones was also really interesting to me and the almost "heirarchy" within each group was equally intriguing. I even enjoyed the chapters with the lore behind the Green Bones and why certain people fell into certain roles - even down to how they approached death or destruction.

While I definitely believe this is the kind of book to read only when you're in the mood for a "thinker," I highly recommend it. I greatly look forward to seeing what comes next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Torture, Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Moderate: Racial slurs, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, War, Grief, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

griffinthief's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Addiction, Gun violence, and Mental illness

Minor: Pedophilia, Infidelity, and Kidnapping