Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

309 reviews

rinku's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.5

Iron Widow seems to be a controversial book when looking at reviews. I stand in the middle of them; this is not the best book ever written but it’s not as terrible as people make it out to be. For me, it was a good 3.5-stars read and I’m really curious about the sequel. 

Zetian lives in a militarized society where fighting some kind of mecha aliens is the top priority, and women and girls get sacrificed for this goal. She should get sacrificed in a mecha robot as well but is able to survive and kill the male pilot instead. This whole premise definitely has some <i>Evangelion</i> vibes to it which I enjoyed. The world this books takes place in is really terrifying, and the whole atmosphere is dark and grim. I wished though that we got some more army critique since the society in this book is so heavily militarised. Of course, the feminism is very direct and on the nose, but this book is YA, so that’s okay. The media critique was also a bit too direct and a bit random.  I liked the twist at the end that

the humans are the invasive species and not the other way around

; it’s of course nothing new but a nice twist nevertheless. It was a bit too much at the end though

how many characters die

. 

Zetian is quite edgy but she’s still a fun character. I love how unhinged she is, but her irrational behaviour is understandable because she’s so scared of Shimin. She also has many cliché main character moments with her holding random speeches. The angst between Shimin and her is so great. Shinmin himself as such a dark and sad backstory, I feel so sorry for him. Other reviews already pointed it out but there’s also a lot of internalized misogyny in Zetian’s character since she’s a lot not like other girls. It’s also unfortunate that there’s not really a likable female character besides her, and that she doesn’t work together with any of them. I think this would’ve been a nicer message. 

All in all, I’m happy that I’ve discovered Zhaos YouTube channel years ago and am now able to read Iron Widow. It has great characters and feminist vibes, even though these are not very subtle. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Classism

justamy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence

cyberhavok's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, and Blood

blkbltchic's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

I've been wanting to read this for a very long time. I really enjoy a completed love triangle no matter how brief the moment is. Based on the epilogue I'm wondering if there will be a sequel I haven't been keeping up in that regard. I loved all of the real world cultural details that were interwoven into this fantastical sci-fi story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Classism

beckahh_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

This was fucking incredible. I didn't really know anything about this book going in, other than it was a booktok favorite. It is now in probably my top books I've ever read, and for sure top 5 of the year I think. The feminine rage was palpable through this entire book. It was fantastic. Highly recommend.

There's definitely a lot of horrible things in this book so definitely check trigger warnings, but it's so worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ratchetang's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Can be confusing if you have little knowledge of chinese culture and mythology or mecha genres. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Grief, Colonisation, and Dysphoria

Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ravensruin's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual content

leafhead's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and War

mossgoblins's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

pengintoppa's review against another edition

adventurous tense

4.5

worldbuilding is interesting, i liked the 3 main characters. it was cool to read scifi set in china by a chinese author. some of the messaging felt a little heavy-handed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Trafficking, and Colonisation

recurring mention/description of the long-term crippling effects of footbinding. the racism/xenophobia is directed at non-han chinese ethnic groups. sexism/misogyny is a lot of the driving force of most of the plot.