Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

425 reviews

inirac's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

linblythe_pub22's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

enbyaddams's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

clownfectionary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Medical content, and Grief

stardust_heidi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

RAGE. 

This was a reread via audiobook. I think the audiobook definitely lends a different tone, somehow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

shadow_cat94's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

Wow! I loved this book and immediately reserved my spot for Heavenly Tyrant at my library!

Wu Zetian is an angry and vengeful girl who is set out of fighting against her misogynistic society. Li Shimin is a sweet boy with a dark past who is just doing his best to survive in a world that doesn't want him to. Yihzi is a gentle boy with a restrictive father in a world of high expectations and different dreams.

Placing these three characters together in the way that they were made me so giddy, I just wanted to scream. There were so many twists including a major one in the epilogue!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Sexual violence, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

The military actively points loaded guns at the heads of the characters while threatening to shoot them for a good chunk of the book. If that is triggering for you, I can not recommend this book.

thebooksanctum's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Just incredible, once again! The conversations around patriarchal societies and extreme sexism, the Pacific Rim vibes, it's all incredible and perfect to me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

caelinsullivan's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

keen's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Torture

Minor: Body shaming and Fire/Fire injury

rjbedell's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

“A primal scream of a book” is a very apt tagline, for better and for worse.  Zhao’s great achievement in Iron Widow is a raw, ferocious current of feminist rage, sustained by shocking plot twists and vivid action sequences.  Genuinely tender moments thread a surprising love arc through otherwise dark scenes.

However, for me the book was weighed down by excessive brutality, surprisingly immature dialogue, and at-times clumsy plot advancements.  The cruelty of the novel’s world makes it impossible not to root for the title character, yet the conclusion Zetian reaches as her revenge fantasy reaches its fever pitch —   “the world does not deserve my respect… kindness or compassion” — abandons speculative fiction’s potential to inspire.  From a serious standpoint, the story paints a grim portrait of a woman consumed by her own rage in a seemingly endless fight against injustice.  For readers able to take the book less seriously, it may provide a cathartic release valve in the form of a sensational, unpredictable bloodbath.

Reminded me strongly of The Hunger Games and Ender’s Game.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation