Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

314 reviews

bubblebot's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

at last i have found a true love triangle. plus the plot twist in the end. im crying

reread:
still love this book to the end.
the emotions zetian feels, the betrayal and the lies made by gods and the demolishing her way to chang'an she came to destroy the same society that wished to destroy her.
absolutely adore it. DESTROY IT FOR ALL OF US ZETIAN SLAY THEM ALL
#reread

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

thoselittlesoyfishthings's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

Some clunky anime-esque dialogue at points, one side of the relationship developed very quickly and the main character got a little Raven Dementia Darkness Way at points but overall a fun read. Very much enjoyed how angry the main character was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Racism, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism

r3allybadusername's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming and Fatphobia

ezriamongthestars's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Ableism and Homophobia

qentt's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense 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

4.75

I found this book incredibly interesting and enjoyable. Definitely a page turner. I wish the pace was a little bit slower to build on the main character

and her lovers

but I enjoyed the world building until the straight up last page.

Which, I had been wondering somewhat during the book but especially during the final battle if the Hunduns were truly the space villain, I’m very glad that got answered before the end of the book.  

A bit of an unhinged female main character?! I love it, I don’t know if I’ve read a book like this before. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Misogyny, and Alcohol

Moderate: Violence and Sexual harassment

dreadspawn's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

mantnam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The main character  is relateably imperfect, headstrong, and angry about the horrendous injustices of her society. Anyone who likes Evangelion or Gundam should give this a try. I never got into wither show but I thought this book was great.

The book was inspired by a lot of real Chinese history and I loved feeling like I was learning while I read this amazing story. It inspired me to learn some more about real history in that region.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Murder, and War

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

quotingmachine's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

a1mello's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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