Reviews tagging 'Death'

Jade City by Fonda Lee

247 reviews

praaliine's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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i really had to fight to get through the first third of the book. i feel i should have gone into this book 100% blind and i had already seen the worst spoiler about a certain character’s death which massively ruined the enjoyment of this for me. it also wasn’t as ground-breaking and show-stopping as i heard it was. a solid read nonetheless, i did like it and the characters definitely have my attention and interest. will be committing to the rest of the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Dementia

Minor: Sexual content, Torture

mirrorstorm_'s review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark

Loveable characters: No

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Pros: Well written. Interesting and unique world building and magic system. 
Cons: Lack of fully developed female characters. There was an attempt but it felt shallow. Not a fan of multiple female characters being called slut as an insult. Lots of unfinished plot points. It is book one in a series but I prefer a book that can stand on its own. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment

lunep's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Vomit, Kidnapping

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Suicide, Dementia, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Pandemic/Epidemic

rnbhargava's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol

This is the first part of a fantasy tinged saga about a crime family. All the violence and tropes of mafia stories are present here. Certain things are also essentially superpowers. That said, it’s also very gritty with hard hitting violence. There’s mental illness, there’s drug addiction, there’s deteriorating health of the elderly old leader. There’s suggestions that one character is a sex offender and pervert. There’s essentially ableism surrounding certain figures born to Jade user families but can’t use Jade abilities, ableism suggestions. There’s vilification and racism toward certain outside nations albeit because they’re also colonizing forces. Also, certain characters’ relationships with foreign nationals are heavily talked about with racist suggestion. The connection between drug addiction and potential suicide is a major theme in the story because it’s framed within the context of jade ability performance enhancement drug usage. There’s a lot of heavy themes to suggest while reading through this mafia family novel.

sonias's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence

Moderate: Self harm, War

Minor: Suicide

intothestarrysea's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, War

itisnatal's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood

gus717's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Rape, Torture, Xenophobia, Alcohol

ealasaid_sch's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Self harm, War

rdrift_reads's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional 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: No

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Jade City was a slow-ish start, with the early worldbuilding feeling a little hokey. But around when Shae enters, things pick up, and by the time of a major character death about halfway through, one realizes how much of this world and its rich family dynamics one has absorbed. 

It's a fast read, the experience much like the HK mafia or wuxia movies it's inspired by - not particularly "deep", but drawn with nuance. Lee's plotting of the political and economic maneuverings of the clans, and the intertwinings of domestic and international affairs, all layered over with an anti-colonialist lens (as Janloon's history and global positioning clearly draw inspiration from the history of HK and Singapore) show just how much experience in business she had before becoming an author. The women characters have as complicated an internal life as the men, but it also /matters/ that they're women. As an Asian-American who has spent significant amounts of her life in Asia, recognizing the ways of life and types of people Lee has put into this novel was delightful. 

But that's all the meta stuff. Textually, Lee's drawn a family drama + action thriller, with imperfect heros you can't help rooting for (heavens I love Hilo), never getting lost amongst her various character POVs. I'm looking forward to reading Book 2

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence