Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Rache im Herzen by Xiran Jay Zhao

84 reviews

ireadqueerbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death of parent, Genocide, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, War, Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Panic attacks/disorders

emilysreadingbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Classism, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Blood, Chronic illness, Grief, Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Torture, and War

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Cursing, and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia

jjjreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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: Ableism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, Torture, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Body shaming, Misogyny, Racism, Kidnapping, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Mental illness, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Confinement, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Xenophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Biphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Death of parent, Gun violence, Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Vomit

Minor: Cursing, Pedophilia, Rape, and Fatphobia

kitheminges's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Violence, Sexual harassment, Torture, War, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Minor: Rape

ka_ke's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

As a debut novel, Iron Widow gets the job done. It’s a good mix of sci-fi meets literary fiction. I felt that the first part was shorter than it could have been, while the other two parts were longer than they needed to be. I felt that some of the women’s rights pieces were either repetitive or preachy, and that is coming from someone who is actively watching the world turn against women and dying inside while it happens. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cursing, Sexism, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Ableism, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Murder

Minor: Confinement

kristynpittman's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Iron Widow had so many call backs to the stories we all love. It sprinkles in elements from The Hunger Games, Handmaids Tale, & even a dash of Power Rangers (IYKYK). But what really sets this apart is that Zetain is not some poor little girl with the hopes of the nation thrust upon her. She's not a Mockingjay that has to be manipulated into action. She's the damn Iron Widow. She doesn't give a FUCK about what her family wants, or even the boys that love her. She wants to show up at the capital and fucking rage against all the women-hating men in power until they stop. murdering. girls. 

As far as representation goes Zhao excels on two fronts. She was able to blend so many beautiful Chinese elements into this brand new sci-fi world. Also, I don't want to spoil anything but this is how you do a love triangle. A triangle is the strongest shape after all...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Confinement, Sexism, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Torture

catapocalypse's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

 Iron Widow lived up to the hype, and is my favorite read of the year so far by a wide margin!

I'm not usually interested in giant mech battles, but the battle scenes were clear and compelling, and the book deals with so much more: Zetian takes on a deeply misogynistic culture and fights for vengeance, justice, and the freedom to live the life of her choosing. While she pushes on with brute force where she can, she also must learn to navigate the necessary evils of military and media politics. She's also stuck with a couple young men as her closest allies: Yizhi, the son of a rich media magnate, and Li Shimin, a powerful pilot and dangerous criminal.

The feel of the book is very minimally YA, so there's a lot of appeal still for adult readers. And though there's a love triangle, it plays out in what I feel is the best possible way. I don't want to spoil it here (though I feel it is pretty obvious where it may go early on).

I had a great time with this and loved Zetian so much. Looking forward to the second book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Alcoholism, and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

mxdegroot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I'm a sucker for morally grey main characters, and this book excels in that.

This entire book breaks your brain in the best way possible. Just when you think you've figured something out of when a happy ending seems within reach, you're yanked back and thrown right back into the action. I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel to come out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, War, Child death, Gaslighting, and Child abuse

Moderate: Racism, Medical content, Alcoholism, Confinement, Torture, and Medical trauma

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

emilinkaa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Zetain becomes a concubine-pilot to get revenge for her sister, who was killed. Instead of killing him outright, she ends up killing him while they're in battle, and sets off a domino affect of events that lead her somewhere she never imagined going. She ends up learning things that have been kept secret for eons, risking her life to change the world and save the concubines and their pilots, and falling in love - more than once. The only complaint I have about this book is that it ended, I wanted more!! Impatiently awaiting the second novel in this series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Trafficking, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Torture, and Death

captainhannes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Death, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Addiction, Torture, Xenophobia, War, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Blood, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Medical trauma

Minor: Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Acephobia/Arophobia, Sexual content, and Sexual violence