Scan barcode
praaliine'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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use and Dementia
Minor: Torture and Sexual content
lunep'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: Grief, Death, Alcohol, Murder, Violence, Medical content, Sexual content, Blood, Cursing, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Body horror, Drug use, War, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
Moderate: Pedophilia, Vomit, Mental illness, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Addiction, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Infidelity, Suicide, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Dementia, Child abuse, and Racism
rnbhargava'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
5.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Classism, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Misogyny, Stalking, Violence, Trafficking, War, Sexual content, Suicide, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Blood, Confinement, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Self harm, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Ableism, and Gaslighting
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.carla20'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
4.5
I’m not the biggest fantasy reader, but this was amazing. The world building was so vivid and easy to digest, it never felt info-dumpy. I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death, War, Blood, Drug abuse, Addiction, Gun violence, Violence, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Dementia, and Self harm
daydream_e'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
4.75
Graphic: Death, Addiction, Violence, Drug use, Murder, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Gun violence
Moderate: War, Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, Xenophobia, Racism, Colonisation, Sexism, Misogyny, Mental illness, Dementia, Death of parent, Suicide, and Gore
Minor: Homophobia
Racism, xenophobia, war, and colonization are within the context of a fictional country with obvious real world analogues, but not one-to-one with real life events. Mental illness and drug use/addiction are also within the context of a fictional drug. Violence and injury is often very explicit - think hard R rated action movie - but not dwelled on excessively. Grief is a major theme throughout the book for many characters BIG SPOILER:bibliomania_express's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Murder, War, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Torture, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Ableism, Grief, Drug abuse, Dementia, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Colonisation, Pedophilia, Classism, Homophobia, and Adult/minor relationship
heather667'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
4.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Body horror, Ableism, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, War, Addiction, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Drug use, Sexism, Death of parent, Dementia, Sexual assault, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Self harm, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia, Murder, and Body shaming
Minor: Homophobia
bubbly_lara's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Cursing, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug abuse
Minor: Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and Infidelity
leanne_miron'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
4.5
My main appreciation for this series as a whole, which I was able to digest more—while actually reading— upon reread, is how relevant the framing of perspective is to the narrative. The characters are so compelling (not to be mistaken with likable, heroic, or defendable), yet if this were another series, we could have easily been led by any of the other ‘antagonistic’ perspectives and feel just as compelled/ conflicted/ like their actions may be justifiable. It’s entirely plausible that I could have devoured this same plot framed as the story of an antihero—and that would have been the story of one of my most despised characters (a hatred which I can admit is probably more than a little irrational, seeing as it probably could be recontextualized without changing much about the character’s qualities. In this story, though, I legitimately had to brace myself every time we switched to that perspective). Even the aggravating development of protagonists felt motivated and human in their consistencies and inconsistencies. It’s hard to entirely love* or hate any character (*WITH ONE EXCEPTION. One beloved character). There’s a recurring motif of characters regarding each other with begrudging admiration, and I think that summarizes how I felt towards characters (cough, ****, cough) even in the midst of being appalled at certain actions. Really fascinating point for me to be so consumed by in a book that’s more plot-driven than what I typically gravitate toward. Characters are what make books for me, but I don’t need likable or lovable or even agreeable characters; I need interesting characters, and this series certainly delivers.
I will now attempt* to resist the impulse to immediately dive into Jade War (*specifically not an oath).
(((Also, the fact that I not only felt compelled to try, but actually delivered on writing out my thoughts in some semblance of organization? Unprecedented.)))
Graphic: Violence, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Gun violence, Medical content, and Xenophobia
Minor: Sexual harassment, Dementia, and Pedophilia
risaleel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Death of parent, Murder, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, and War
Moderate: Gore, Alcoholism, Body horror, Classism, Dementia, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Terminal illness
Minor: Cursing and Mental illness