Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Rache im Herzen by Xiran Jay Zhao

89 reviews

nessynoname's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, War, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Foot-binding is practiced among the cultures of this world and the main character is a recipient of it. There is graphic description of the procedure as well as multiple references to the daily pain it causes her.

rai's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

brokenbodybitch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

Wu Zetian is the most iconic female protagonist I have ever read in a book and I adored every page of her rise to power and descent to madness. She is rage-filled and outspoken, determined and unrelenting. I never stopped rooting for her to overcome her challenges, which were all imposed on her by the patriarchal government and misogynistic society. Xiran's writing is casual but powerful and it made Zetian's characterization even more distinct as we viewed the world through her eyes. On top of all this we got not one but two bisexual love interests who end up in a polyam relationship with her, each of them supporting each other and destroying everything and anything that threatens to bring harm to one of them? Yeah, iconic.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring tense 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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and War

aardwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

Lived up to the hype. And that's a lot of hype. Excellent worldbuilding, tension, and character work, tight pacing, evocative prose throughout, all the while invoking a half dozen genres and histories and inverting them all. And it even remained a YA book proper throughout, which does mean, yes, the plot beats themselves were fairly predictable and the characters sketched for their audience, but a great deal of skill goes into understanding the assignment to that degree.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

princess_starr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War

melonmachinery's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

An angry and straightforward book that I can't help but to like. It's heart wrenching and emotionally exhausting and somehow both satisfying and a power fantasy but the struggle is so awful it doesn't always feel like one. Look forward to the sequel and to see where this all ends.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

flare_ice8's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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? No

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, and Child abuse

Minor: Sexual content

atlas_shruggs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

FUCK MY LIFE I NEED THE SEQUEL NOW PLEASE

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail