Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Burning Roses by S.L. Huang

11 reviews

vivivi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

A beautiful novella about finding lost family and hoping for forgiveness. 

It has a good mix of wuxia and western fairy tales!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Murder, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Death of parent

ehmannky's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

A retelling of Red Riding Hood and Hu Yi that goes together so well. I had no idea that this novella was the third in a series, but I don't think you actually need to have any background knowledge before you read it. It's all about redemption and the harm we can cause to our families and if it's possible to fix it. Beautifully written. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death, Gun violence, and Violence

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Death, Abandonment, Murder, and Animal death

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Hate crime

Minor: Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, and Trafficking

bluedilly's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Gun violence, Child death, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Pregnancy

laurareads87's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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

I picked up Burning Roses having enjoyed some of S.L. Huang's other work; I didn't realize when I bought it that there are two short stories that precede this novella -- I went straight for this novella anyway, and it read well as a standalone.  I was also unfamiliar with the stories of Huo Yi prior to reading this novella and did not find that this impacted my enjoyment at all, though I'm sure I would've picked up on more had I been more familiar and of course cannot comment on the similarities (or not) of this Huo Yi with the fairytale depictions.
<i>Burning Roses</i> follows two fairytale figures, Huo Yi (a very skilled archer) and Rosa (Red Riding Hood).  Older women, both have complex pasts which are slowly revealed over the course of the story as they go together on a quest to stop sunbirds who are torching and destroying villages.  There are many references to fairytales here, but at its heart this is a story about guilt, regret, loss, forgiveness, and redemption.  There is so much I appreciate about this story -- the representation of older queer women, the way so many themes come together in a story that feels just the right length, the refusal to simplify difficult dynamics for the sake of a tidy ending, the subtlety.  When I want feminist retellings... this is what I want.  Definitely recommend.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Violence and Gun violence

Minor: Transphobia

musebeliever's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, and Gun violence

Moderate: Racism, Hate crime, and Gaslighting

hanz's review

adventurous reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse

marjokat's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Toxic friendship

aardwyrm's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Still a sucker for fairy tales, love a story where older women take the helm, and it's always nice when found family and made family and blood family all get a little discussion. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

saphirablue's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

<Spoiler>
I kind of like it but it's also kind of unsatisfying?

I kind of like the idea of fairy tales look at years later and what happened to the main characters/"heroes" of them. I like that there is a realistic approach of what happens if you are the main character of Red Riding Hood or the Beauty and the Beast. I also like, that there are shades of grey for everything.

What felt very unsatisfying for me? The major character death and that we don't know how it ends for the other character. That's just not my cup of tea. :/

All in all, I enjoyed the writing and the general premise of this story but the ending just wasn't for me. :/

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Body horror and Gun violence