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Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Kidnapping, Abortion, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation
Minor: Alcohol
Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Violence, Blood
Minor: Sexual content
Some possible cons for some people:
- if you are highly character driven, you might not always have quite enough connection with the characters. Not to say that the characters are bad or poorly written at all, but the main characters are not necessarily the most lovable.
- Jade City is somewhat slow paced. It never bothered me and I thought it had a good balance of action, but the book doesn't quite ramp up until maybe halfway through.
- there's a decent bit of "telling" in terms of worldbuilding. And there are sometimes flashback-type sequences to flesh out world or character development. It did not bother me and didn't feel excessive, but I know some people really hate this.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Grief
Minor: Infidelity, Kidnapping
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: War
even more surprising, though at times painful as well, is how much lee is able to make me care abt the characters, their plight, their battles (both external and internal). i also appreciate how much nuance is imbued in both sides of the clan war: the characters' personalities, their motivations, differing ideologies that have both merit and disadvantages, making the central conflict actually seem unavoidable. this book is also full of violence--though none of it is gratuitous--and w/ the startling death of [redacted] halfway thru the book, i was shocked to discover that no one is spared, which is actually realistic, rly.
i also enjoyed the political stuff, esp how much meaning can be conveyed or inferred from even the subtlest words or actions. the third person pov is effectively used to great effect as well. another thing i rly like is the ideas and themes explored in the story. shae is disturbingly relatable w/ her internal warring of stifling expectations and need to escape her present environment; parallels to the real world are reflected in the hubristic foreign presence on kekon, and the latter's rightful desire to take control of its own country, though obvs the means are a contentious point; the seemingly cyclical nature of violence and vengeance spurred on by loyalty and a sense of duty. lee explores the themes w/ aplomb w/o ever seeming preachy or overbearing, and that's not sth many authors can say. im daunted to see how it all further unfolds in the sequel.
Graphic: Cursing, Self harm, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Dementia
Minor: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, War, Injury/Injury detail