Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Rache im Herzen

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Rache im Herzen by Xiran Jay Zhao

335 reviews

_andviolet's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

1.5

Don't read this book if you're sensitive to mentions of rape, femicide, and patricide.

I had high hopes for this book because I followed Xiran Youtube channel for many years but this book was astonishingly subpar.

The prose is too childish for a story with such heavy, dark topics it's almost embarrassing. It's a poor attempt at critiquing the patriarchy with no real resolve or clear message/call to action as the main character Zetian

ends up also killing women as well despite her countless narrations of being against femicide, but "only at the hands of cis-men" i guess right?

[At this point I feel like I have to iterate that I'm not white, I'm also a queer POC so it's not anything about "not relating" to Zetian or Xiran.]

I understand that a lot about the character Zetian is a self insert of Xirans own struggles with their culture and sentiments with identifying as nonbinary, but a lot of the narration felt like aimless venting. I'm sorry I dare say its virtue signaling because Xiran only further perpetuates the concept of binary roles instead of eliminating them ("All. Boys. Want. It."; and when Zetian gains control over the Dragon saying "I finally feel like a man").

The love triangle was also pretty subpar for how much people hyped a bi-poly team. The 2 male characters felt like role played side characters and Zetian was kind of insufferable, and way too fueled by hatred. That's not female rage.

Oh also the weird racism against Shimin for not

being a Han person?

That parallel exists IRL but why did Zetian have to perpetuates the barbarian stereotype against him even in the last 30% of the book?

The last half of the book was really a drag and the only interesting plot revelance happened in the last 10 ish pages, but at the cost of

Shimins faked death and Yizhis character assassination

. I don't think I'll be reading the sequel if it's just a poor attempt at critiquing

colonization

next.

We get it, bad thing is bad! Please for the sake of your followers that are still willing to read the sequel, give them some sort of resolve to your talking points.

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tiddlerrr's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring tense fast-paced

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

5.0

If you are neurospicy there is something about the way Xiran Jay Zhao writes that clicks in your brain. I opened this up one evening thinking I was going to read max two chapters, and then proceeded to not be able to put the book down until I finished it at 6am. I literally read this while eating dinner.

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bogbride's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.5

this had a really interesting plot, and i was surprised by how much i ended up rooting for the romance. however, i found the prose a little too simple for my taste, and i was often disappointed by what should have been big narrative moments that failed to deliver. it's useful for the narrator to spell out some of the more complex elements of the world building, but it would have served the story better to allow the reader to draw some of their own conclusions from descriptions.

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janiceinwonderland's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

yes, i will now accept this as my alternate darling in the franxx story. love my strong triangle and i can’t wait for more.

my small gripes:

the pacing is a bit wonky here and there, but especially toward the end.
some phrasing also either felt too “meme-y” for the moment (although the “in rich” line is my fave) or just awkward all together (but i think english is the author’s second language?)
i wanted to really bask in the romantic relationships and spend more time developing them (
and figure out where tf yizhi’s tattoos came from???
)

what i loved:

the payoff for the triangle :)
zetian girlbossing too close to the sun
the world building twist at the end
li shimin. i love li shimin

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mudiasmusings's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? N/A

4.5

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zoeluh's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

4.5

I LOVE a morally grey, vengeful, murderous main character, especially a vengeful, murderous girl. As a survivor, Zetian’s rage and refusal to be forgiving speaks to me in an unvarnished and beautiful way. I love that she isn’t made to be forgiving, kind, or redeemable. She is fueled by anger, and beneath that by love for those suffering injustice, and that’s what makes her so powerful and relatable. I also like that although this isn’t historical fiction, it draws on so many aspects of real Chinese history, and highlights the discrimination of Chinese ethnic minorities. The descriptions of foot-binding stuck with me as well as someone whose ancestors had bound feet. Zetian’s rage was not arbitrary, it draws on very real injustices and deep, ancestral anger, making this a powerful novel that speaks to the darker parts of the heart.

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