Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Jade City by Fonda Lee

44 reviews

jakepasseri's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-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

4.25

Amazing start to the series!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Self harm, Drug abuse, Addiction, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, War, Dementia, Death of parent, Gore, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, and Homophobia

griffinthief's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Addiction, Gun violence, and Mental illness

Minor: Pedophilia, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

violetbblack's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Murder, Violence, Self harm, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

aargot1's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Torture, Self harm, Suicide, Abandonment, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, War, and Mental illness

maira_h's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5 stars ✨

Damn, this was incredible!

For some reason, I thought this was YA, which it obviously was not. (Trigger warnings for violence, depictions of violence, self harm, suicide, drug abuse, addiction)

Yes, this book was action-packed but wow the politics was also top notch, which I didn't expect. The action scenes were written very well. It felt like I was watching an action movie with very well choreographed action sequences. (To be honest, if done well, I could see this book being adapted into a TV series). The politics also played a huge role in establishing how Kekon as a country operates and how these clans can influence what goes on in the country, which was super interesting to read about.

The characters were all very unique individuals, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Each with their own inner conflicts. When I was reading, I didn't find myself connecting to the characters but I was surprised that I was absolutely concerned for them when something particularly bad happened. These characters somehow managed to bury themselves under my skin and into my heart. (Anden, that precious bean. Please protect him at all costs 😌). The deep bond between the Kauls also made my heart ache. 

Thank goodness I already have the second book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, and Addiction

Minor: Suicide and Self harm

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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

5.0

"She felt, strangely, that it all made sense in a perfect and terrible way. It only confirmed in her mind that the will of the gods was a conspiracy of many things; people laid the tracks of their fate yet were helpless at the same time. They’d all played their part in this—them and their enemies."

This book really just blew me away. It's a family saga, and a gangster novel, and a story about a formerly isolated nation forced to confront the wider world and figure out how to live alongside it. The world (especially the advantages and drawbacks of jade magic and how that is integrated) is fascinating, and all of the characters feel like real people. This book is long but not a single word feels wasted - everything that comes up even once matters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Animal death, Medical content, Murder, Xenophobia, Addiction, Dementia, and Grief

Minor: War, Bullying, Homophobia, Slavery, Ableism, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicide, and Torture

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Vomit, Racism, Misogyny, Sexism, Kidnapping, Self harm, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Medical content, Dementia, Torture, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Suicide, Infidelity, Homophobia, Rape, and Colonisation

kinomatica's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Dementia, Medical trauma, Murder, Car accident, Classism, Grief, Chronic illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Self harm, Death of parent, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Self harm, Abandonment, Abortion, Kidnapping, Outing, Body horror, Bullying, Colonisation, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Alcohol

zoeelizabethk's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

5.0

I went into Jade City with tempered expectations because of all the hype around this book, but I'm so glad to say that I loved it! I'm discovering that I love family saga dynamics in my books, and it was so well done in this book. I really appreciated the focus on family and loyalty, and it made for really interesting characters and choices. I loved that no character felt too predictable, they felt very real with well developed arcs and motivations. I thought the worldbuilding was really well done, and I loved the magic; although I kept forgetting this was "modern" until I read about TV and skyscrapers. Jade City definitely is adult and gritty, but it doesn't feel hopeless or like it's glorifying violence, it's just the environment of this clan family. I also really appreciated that the stakes felt high. I don't want to say much here, but partway through the book you realize that anything could happen and that really paid off when it came to the ending of the book. I don't normally binge series, but I found myself pausing my current kindle read so I could listen AND read to Jade City, and I'm really wanting to pick up Jade War like right now. 

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Drug use, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, and War

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Racism, and Suicide

Minor: Infidelity and Kidnapping

horizonous's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Murder, Xenophobia, Animal death, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Self harm, Grief, and Gun violence

Minor: Death, Suicide, and Infidelity

◦ Death (minor) = Parent
◦ Death (moderate) = Sibling
◦ Terminal illness = Dementia