Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Rache im Herzen by Xiran Jay Zhao

128 reviews

walkie_check's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Murder, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: War, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Body horror, Xenophobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Torture, Sexual content, Racism, Classism, and Child death

Minor: Rape, Ableism, Pedophilia, Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, and Slavery

hue's review against another edition

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

3.0

The writing was a bit "too YA" at times. The story itself was fine, the characters were fine, the setting was fine—it just wasn't anything mind blowing. Maybe it's because I've never been really that into Mecha but it wasn't my cup of tea. Might still read the sequel if I happen to wonder what comes next.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Torture, Violence, and War

jjnich's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? No

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Torture, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Racism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Murder, and Physical abuse

wayward_sister's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-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? N/A

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Gore, Addiction, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Confinement, Body horror, Bullying, War, Violence, Torture, Alcohol, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Death, Racism, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Child abuse, and Sexual assault

lyrasilver's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Physical abuse

nenaveenstra's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

This book is unlike anything I've ever read. Granted, I don't read a lot of sci-fi/fantasy, but I doubt that any other books have such a fierce female anti-hero as a main character as Zetian is. I was rooting for her while she destroyed the world, I felt for her hatred towards men, and I found it all utterly believable. 

At the beginning, I was still comparing this book to The Hunger Games and Divergent in my head, and there are some parallels, sure (the most obvious being the female main character who participates in 'the system' only to rebel against it), but this really is a story of its own right, with characters that had more backstory, a very feminist one at that, and feelings other than the complicated love triangle they found themselves in. 

Speaking of love triangles, I loved the one in here, and I'm dying to see how it further develops in the sequel(s). (Spoiler alert: it's a polyamorous love triangle, and I would die for it.) I never thought I would say this, but I think I'm continuing the series? 

Praise aside, I did skim some of the battles, had to re-read a lot of sentences and I could barely keep some of the characters apart. Part of this is to blame on myself, and my lack of experience with the genre, part is the fact that Chinese names don't have any inherent meaning for me. It's all on me, is what I'm saying, but it did diminish my enjoyment of the book and that's why I'm 'only' giving it 4 stars. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Misogyny, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, and Racism

Minor: Murder, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

merlionne's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Had a great time reading this. I mean "inspiring" in an angry way, because Zetian's anger is quite cathartic. She's tired of being a girl in a world that treats her like shit and sometimes a ruthless revenge fantasy is exactly what you need. But don't worry, she's not always right about everything. 
I loved the mythological aspects of the world, even though I don't know a lot about the actual people and their stories they're referencing. The only thing that bothered me a bit is that all the secrets that get unveiled are kind of ....eh?  It's not a bad thing, maybe from a modern perspective they're a lot less shocking or it's a lot easier for me to expect something like that to be the case, but ultimately it works within the story and I'll read the next book because I want to see how Zetian blows up some more bastards.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Blood, Violence, Sexism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, and War

Moderate: Grief, Racism, Confinement, Death, Bullying, Colonisation, Classism, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Body shaming

Minor: Body shaming, Sexual assault, Excrement, Rape, Infidelity, Biphobia, Homophobia, Fatphobia, Vomit, Physical abuse, Animal death, and Sexual violence

Even though it gets talked about etc, there are no detailed descriptions of sexual assault or other sexual violence. The book also includes a list of the biggest trigger warnings in the beginning, a lot of what I added here is in there somehow but for the most cases not overly detailed, extensive or dwelled upon.

daenarvelaryon1's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Death, Emotional abuse, War, Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, Torture, Body shaming, Bullying, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Classism, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Racism, Xenophobia, and Rape

caitlinemccann's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Violence, Addiction, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Death, Torture, and War

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Bullying, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Gun violence, Rape, Racism, and Confinement

Minor: Biphobia

looseleafellie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

In a world where girls are selected as concubine-pilots to power up giant mechas — and often die in the process — Zetian is determined to murder the male pilot who killed her sister. But when she proves to be an exceptionally powerful pilot herself, she must use her new position to investigate why the pilot system destroys so many girls … before her many enemies catch up to her.

People have been telling me I’ll love this book for a while, and in practice, they were totally right! I loved the rollercoaster of a plot (the short chapters helped). I wished a few parts, like the training sequences, were a little more fleshed out, but overall I thought the structure was great.

Zetian is an unhinged powerhouse of a protagonist whose motivations are always spot-on, even if they lead to her doing terrible things. I loved how the romance between her, Shimin, and Yizhi bloomed. They brought out the best in each other, both in battle and in general!

Amid all the flashy robot battles, it’s no secret that this book is about sexism. It delves into what it means to participate in an oppressive system, how much agency people really have to change things, and who should really shoulder the blame. I especially loved how the book explored how women often contribute to misogynistic systems without blaming those women for their own oppression.

The ending of the book — especially the epilogue — absolutely shook me to my core and left me dying for the sequel. Good thing it’s coming this year!

CWs: Violence, blood, abuse, murder, suicide ideation, alcohol addiction, torture, racism, misogyny, and reference to sexual assault.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Torture, Blood, Violence, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Sexual assault