Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

95 reviews

dandelionsteph's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

I know this is YA, but I was shocked that there was only swearing at about 134 pages in. I thought I'd be able to get through a whole YA book without it having any swearing. I always find swearing out of place, like a 14-year-old boy allowed to watch "grown-up" media going overboard and playing at being an adult. I've seen similar levels of brutality in lower age audiences without swearing (say, Animorphs of Wings of Fire).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia, Bullying, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

Minor: Body shaming and Pregnancy

kristenityyy's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Police brutality

Minor: Body shaming, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Grief

lyr1cal's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

sleeping_roses's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

She actually did a proper love triangle! Not just an angle like most other 'love triangle' books. Also I love the way all 3 main characters complement an contrast one another.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Minor: Biphobia, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

valjeanval's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

Well, it was better than I thought it would be. As my book club has started talking more about the four doorways of reading (Character, Plot, Setting, Writing), I'm coming to realize more and more that without that Writing doorway, I just have a hard time getting into a book. 

This book is extremely cinematic in a way that if it was an anime or graphic novel where I could actually see the Chrysalises and watch the battle scenes, I'd probably be pretty into it. The ruthless female anti-hero is a trope that I'm glad is gaining more traction. In the romance aspects of the book,

the pro-poly anti-love triangle take is a great way to turn YA fiction on its head even if the Shimin/Yizhi romance didn't really get enough attention to feel at all believable.

So plot and character-wise, it's pretty good. The world-building is all right too. I think it's just the language including occasional modern phrases that feel so anachronistic to the setting that grated on me. The ending also was pretty abrupt and included so much new information that felt rushed to me. So I don't know. I think it's a good book that just wasn't really for me. It is a shame that it was disqualified in the Hugo debacle this year because as literature aimed at a young adult audience, I think it is making some very important moves and deserved that recognition.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

gaymoonreader's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Minor: Terminal illness

ebp's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement

mitta_girl452's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

This book is a wild, crazy ride.
Personally, I LOVED it, and was hooked from the start.
It explores so many amazing themes of sexism, family, love, guilt, war and grief, and its all done so beautifully. I really enjoyed the anger that Zetian has towards men, and her platonic adoration for women and their strength.
I LOVE her quote:
"He does not get to make me a statistic." 
As I survivor of sexual assault, that really hit home with me. When I read for the first time I stopped, put down the book and immediately wrote it out and put it up on my wall. It's just so powerful. 
It is a very dark book, and if you are someone with poor mental health or easily triggered by anything you see in the content warnings below, I possibly wouldn't recommend this to you. 
I love how this book speaks about the stereotype that being strong means to hide emotions, be distrustful and not love, especially for women. Women who publicly show fear, love, sadness or really any strong emotion are labelled as 'weak', when really they are the strong ones, for having the courage to show that much openness publicly.
This book is definitely a must-read, and I'm really looking forward to the sequel. 
The characters are loveable, the premise is exciting and interesting and the plot is so full of twists and turns that you are always on the edge of your seat. 
It's a really wonderful mashup of science fiction, dystopian future, Chinese mythology and action. 
Please read this

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, War, and Classism

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ionarachel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol