Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Jade City by Fonda Lee

21 reviews

jessiereads98's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

An absolute masterpiece. Fonda Lee has crafted amazing characters in an incredible world. Truly the world building here is masterful. She weaves the narratives of characters together flawlessly, revealing important details or moments at the exact right time. The action scenes grab you and pull you to the edge of your seat. I can not wait to read the rest of this trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Dementia, Addiction, Drug use, and Gore

Minor: Physical abuse, Ableism, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Gun violence, Alcohol, Grief, Racism, Sexism, War, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, War, Sexual content, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Animal death, Addiction, Grief, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Sexism, Homophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia

theespressoedition's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.5

The most important thing that I need to convey in this review is that while this is a slow book, it is really incredible to read. Typically, I would quickly lose interest in a book that primarily focuses on political intrigue. Not the case with Jade City. Despite each chapter taking somewhere around 30 minutes to read, I was still so hooked by what was taking place that I didn’t want to put it down. I was constantly thinking about it when I wasn't reading it, wondering what would happen next. So, if the size of the book or the intense content is frightening to you, I say give it a try anyway. You might be pleasantly surprised like I was!

There is a lot to follow in this book and I worried about losing track of the many characters or their importance to the story. Sometimes, there are full chapters that are told from the perspective of a side character. Initially, I was confused by this. Why would there be a heavy focus on such random, seemingly unimportant people? But I'm glad I didn't give up on trying to understand what was happening. Every single chapter makes a difference. Every single character furthers the story, no matter how small their role is.

I'm currently under the assumption that the only reason I don't fully understand the jade magic is because this was only the first book and it's meant to come into play later on. However, I would have liked just a little more explanation of that and even the way the shine drug affected those who used it. There were moments that helped me understand bits and pieces, but certain deaths left me reeling because I had no clue what the true cause was.

The political intrigue was what, shockingly, kept my attention the most. I was fascinated by the gang war and what was happening on either side to induce further violence and panic. The ranks of the Green Bones was also really interesting to me and the almost "heirarchy" within each group was equally intriguing. I even enjoyed the chapters with the lore behind the Green Bones and why certain people fell into certain roles - even down to how they approached death or destruction.

While I definitely believe this is the kind of book to read only when you're in the mood for a "thinker," I highly recommend it. I greatly look forward to seeing what comes next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Torture, Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Moderate: Racial slurs, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, War, Grief, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

dodie_sullivan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Drug use, War, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, Dementia, and Alcohol

Minor: Fatphobia, Outing, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Adult/minor relationship

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

This book has a bit of a slow start, I won’t lie, but the character work and worldbuilding that’s established in the first 100 pages is an investment paid back in full with interest and gratuity—this is a story you feel like you are living in and a world that you could reach out and touch. It was a rollercoaster of highs and lows, twists and turns, and I can’t wait to see these characters and this setting in the next installment!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Dementia, Drug use, Gun violence, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Stalking, Violence, Addiction, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Racism, and Death of parent

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

doodeedoda's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, Grief, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Medical content, Blood, and Dementia

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, and Infidelity

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

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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

3.0

 - Do you love stories like The Godfather or Succession but wish they included magic? JADE CITY is the book for you! Warring clans with intricate hierarchies and long histories vie for territory as the younger generation jockeys for power. Plus, excellent fight scenes.
- As much as I enjoyed this story, I can't talk about it without discussing the anti-fat bias woven through it, which really dragged everything down for me. Most minor characters weren't given physical descriptions unless they were fat. Then, every time they were mentioned, so was their fatness, and it never had any bearing on what was happening in that scene. Poor Chancellor Son was forever pursing his "thick lips," drumming his "sausage fingers" or heaving himself up on his "heavy elbows." Recruits who clearly weren't going to make it into the ranks of the clans were "clever, but pudgy," or "doughy and insipid." These fat characters were all shown as being lazy or incompetent in one way or another, often described as having once been formidable warriors who now ate and drank too much. If a character was described as being hardworking, loyal, etc., their size usually wasn't mentioned.
- This is not me telling you to cancel this book and this author - I just want to point out how pervasive these stereotypes are, and how often we don't even notice them in our stories (especially in fantasy, where the protagonists are usually thin and able bodied.) Read the book if the story sounds good to you, but go in aware of this aspect of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Dementia, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Rape