Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Jade City by Fonda Lee

12 reviews

bobbyeight's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Sexual content, Gun violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Sexual violence

takarakei's review against another edition

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

4.5

• Warring mafia/mob families
• Political intrigue to the max 
• Kung fu/martial arts inspired
• Complex lovable characters
• Multiple POV

I struggled in parts of this book because of the amount of political intrigue related to the clans/families was a lot and I'm not really interested in mafias in general. But those parts were also the typical sorts of things I figure you'd find in books about a mob family and being used as a kind of structure/base (I haven't read any others, so I personally don't have anything to compare it to besides The Sopranos). However the things that make this book unique, mainly the jade and THE CHARACTERS which are all so complex and interesting, were thoroughly enjoyable. I found myself towards the end really getting invested because I loved these characters so much.

Even though my favorite character was killed relatively early on. It's ok, I still hold a glimmer of hope something magical will happen.

Since this is the first book in a series it did feel like it was a lot of set up for the subsequent books, but I am interested to keep reading and see where things go from here.

Also I drew a lot of parallels between this book and The Poppy War, even though they are VERY different series. But interestingly the first books were published a year apart, so I wonder if Fonda Lee and R.F. Kuang have any similar influences.

3/5 🌶️ (there is explicit sex but it’s very sporadic)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Death, Drug use, and War

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Addiction, and Dementia

Minor: Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Rape, and Animal death

Borderline child pornography aka just a gross old man being a pervert Animal cruelty: cock fights, general derogatory language "dog-fucker" Rape: mentioned historically in terms of colonizers taking native people abroad

jessiereads98's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

An absolute masterpiece. Fonda Lee has crafted amazing characters in an incredible world. Truly the world building here is masterful. She weaves the narratives of characters together flawlessly, revealing important details or moments at the exact right time. The action scenes grab you and pull you to the edge of your seat. I can not wait to read the rest of this trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Dementia, Addiction, Drug use, and Gore

Minor: Physical abuse, Ableism, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Gun violence, Alcohol, Grief, Racism, Sexism, War, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

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

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, War, Sexual content, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Animal death, Addiction, Grief, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Sexism, Homophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia

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

narsere's review

adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Animal death and Torture

amanduhhhpls's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

OH MY GOD. This was so intense and I need to read the rest of the trilogy immediately.

Every single one of these characters is so interesting and the way they interplay together with the politics of the clans is even more interesting. This was the kind of story I'm so glad was written for adults because the depth of the darkness and violence only added to the stakes of the story.

The magic system and the way the jade and its synthetic counterpart, shine, function is so fascinating and unique. There are hard limits to the power of jade and it makes the struggle for power all the more interesting. I also love how isolated this war is in the grander fantasy world created here. This is ultimately about power, honor, loyalty, and above all, family, and I ate up every second of it.

This book is worth every single ounce of hype it's been given.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Animal death

Moderate: Violence

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

"She felt, strangely, that it all made sense in a perfect and terrible way. It only confirmed in her mind that the will of the gods was a conspiracy of many things; people laid the tracks of their fate yet were helpless at the same time. They’d all played their part in this—them and their enemies."

This book really just blew me away. It's a family saga, and a gangster novel, and a story about a formerly isolated nation forced to confront the wider world and figure out how to live alongside it. The world (especially the advantages and drawbacks of jade magic and how that is integrated) is fascinating, and all of the characters feel like real people. This book is long but not a single word feels wasted - everything that comes up even once matters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Animal death, Medical content, Murder, Xenophobia, Addiction, Dementia, and Grief

Minor: War, Bullying, Homophobia, Slavery, Ableism, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicide, and Torture

horizonous's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Murder, Xenophobia, Animal death, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Self harm, Grief, and Gun violence

Minor: Death, Suicide, and Infidelity

◦ Death (minor) = Parent
◦ Death (moderate) = Sibling
◦ Terminal illness = Dementia