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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
teconaisha's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and War
jewels_pg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Addiction, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, and War
Minor: Torture and Suicide attempt
ebp's review against another edition
- 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
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
c_dmckinney's review against another edition
- 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
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
xx_salem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
valpyre's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
2.75
i will give this book its roses for being good enough that i was able to pick at it over time without wanting to tear my hair out or DNF. the writing itself was far from the worst i've ever read, but i still found it a little awkward and cheesy in parts ("welcome to your nightmare"). the prose was quite blunt and left little to mull over.
i was mostly interested in the first couple of chapters while zetian is still at home -- the exposition laid out at the beginning was compelling to me, especially regarding the chrysalises and the media/live streaming aspect that capitalized on their existence.
i respect that the author was extremely transparent about the sources they drew on for inspiration (historical figures and other media), and while i wasn't familiar with many of them, the book still read as transformative fiction than original to me. many parts of the story felt underbaked -- i felt that there was so much more to be said about pilot training, about concubines (a position zetian was never truly in due to her Specialness), about the different types of qi, and more. i found that many developments were talked about and not shown (e.g. we got one random ice dancing scene, li shimin teaches zetian martial arts off screen). i definitely felt this acutely regarding the love interests -- zetian suddenly always returned yizhi's feelings, and i never felt the "tension" between her and li shimin. it's not that they weren't compelling, but just weren't developed enough.
i think many of the top rated reviews of this book articulate the issues with its presentation of misogyny and feminism -- eventually, it just felt like the book wasn't telling me anything new. i totally understood the lens of zetian overcoming the constant propagandized knowledge of women being "lesser" than men, but at the same time she was special for knowing it was bullshit the entire time, which made it frustrating as a reader who knew the same. zetian's big sister was just another fridged character -- i honestly forgot about her until she was mentioned closer to the end of the book.
the major "plot twists" weren't all that surprising to me, and i mostly just wanted to know more about them exactly, as opposed to uncovering them. zetian's point of view was frustratingly slow in figuring some of this stuff out, especially at the end, which i found rushed (particularly in the epilogue).
i put the sequel on my TBR because i am interested in the worldbuilding reveal from the end, and want to see if that'll come to anything in the next one.
one line that i liked: "They may think they do, but no matter how they scold or threaten or beat me, they can't really control what goes on in my head."
Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexism, Torture, and Alcohol
Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, and War
missymoo93's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The action is fairly disorienting to the point of being truly hard to follow, and motivations for characters other than the main three often fall into an abyss of "I [the POV character] have barely any idea what's happening, so neither will the reader."
As someone who has also experienced similar suicidal thoughts and ideation to the main character, it was represented with upsetting accuracy and depicted honestly.
All in all, a good first book, but not my favorite, and I am hesitant to return due to the tone, despite the tantalizing out-of-nowhere bombshell cliffhanger dropped in the last literal two pages of the epilogue that offered a glimpse of the only lore questions that remained for me.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Child death
anni_o's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Classism
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
zias's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Torture, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail