Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

41 reviews

readsbymoonlight's review

emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: War, Violence, and Death

zinlizzie's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Death, and War

maeverose's review

5.0

My first 5⭐️ of the year!!

I was expecting to like this but I wasn’t expecting it to make me cry.

The writing is beautiful and  atmospheric, the story takes it’s time and is simultaneously comforting and painful. I always love the ‘stories attached to items’ trope (is that a trope?) and this has that. I was worried I wasn’t fully understanding it at first (with all the ‘do you understand?’ moments..), but by the end I did. Well, I’m sure there are details that I missed but I understood the overall story. This is one of my favorite books I’ve ever read I think. Please read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Suicide, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Classism, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

Minor: Animal death, Slavery, and War

Forced separation from a child and forced separation from a romantic partner, brief mention of a beheading, drowning and gutting (not detailed).

camryndaytona's review

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Racism, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, War, Murder, Sexism, Xenophobia, Confinement, Violence, and Genocide

ktv's review against another edition

adventurous reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and War

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Child death

kaziaroo's review against another edition

mysterious reflective relaxing 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? No

4.75

I normally go for substance over style, but I liked this one a lot. It's very atmospheric and immersive, and I really enjoyed the narrative style and framing. The storytelling was very subtle and I'm still a little confused about the timeline of events but it suited the overall tone. It took a while for me to realise what made the empress so great and even now I feel like I barely know her, more as a shadow in the mist than a person. As someone who tends to read chunky novels, it feels strange and almost uncomfortable to finish a story while not knowing so much about the characters. It kept me company for a few hours, and now it's gone. I'll definitely keep the other books in the series on my to-read list for next time I have a long journey.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Misogyny, and Death

Minor: Abortion, War, Pregnancy, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Sexual content, Infertility, and Animal death

fraise's review

mysterious reflective slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Grief, Sexism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Violence, War, Suicide, Infertility, Colonisation, Murder, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death and Slavery

jaan's review

adventurous reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

Loved Nghi Vo once before and this did not disappoint. She is deft and light in her writing, and her characterization is vivid. This is a short novella but it has depth. Don’t speed through it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Violence

Moderate: Murder and Pregnancy

Minor: War

jjjreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, Trafficking, Classism, and Slavery

Moderate: Body shaming, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

Minor: War and Violence

tinyelfarcanist's review

inspiring mysterious relaxing slow-paced

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

4.5

This is, undoubtedly, a feminist tale.

There is a story on the books, of the emperor of Anh coming to In-Yo in a dream and pressing a seed into her belly. It is the story that the people of Anh like a great deal, about the great virility of their rulers and how they reach out in their sleep or in death, and it isn't as if the history books aren't full of such things.

In such a short format, the author packs a fleshed-out world you want to delve into. Passing characters leave a mark and the story being told from the past is even more engaging than the present.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Slavery, Kidnapping, War, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Infidelity