Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Water Outlaws

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang

56 reviews

cfk95's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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jrbenson95's review

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adventurous inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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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btg's review

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adventurous dark 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

3.75

For fans of Game of Thrones who just heartily wished to find another, better take on the high fantasy genre, boy do I have the book for you. Set in imperial China with light fantasy elements, Huang's "The Water Outlaws" focuses on well-written characters in impossible situations from all walks of life. I particularly liked the complexity of the characters and how Huang explores morality throughout her characters' decisions. Special note goes to the villains of the novel, who are some of the biggest bastards I've seen in fiction in a while and yet completely understandable from their point of view. They really contribute to Huang's theme development about feminism and corruption along, and they're very satisfying to watch defeated.

I really want to say this was the best book I've read in 2023, because from a craft perspective, it's immaculately done and deserves a lot of recognition. I really wanted to like it more than I did. I loved the themes the author was exploring, some of the characters really caught my attention (Lu Da is a DELIGHT let me tell you), the writing and world building was showed so much care. It was just obvious from the beginning that this was structured in the vain of a high fantasy novel a la Wheel of Time or Game of Thrones, and I am clearly not in this book's intended audience. Due to the books medium, bordering on slower pacing (which is typical of the genre, and in fact much faster paced than most books of this nature) and incorporation of a very large cast of characters, I had difficulty many times tracking exactly what was happening. Prospective readers should be warned that the book contains dark themes and multiple scenes that, if the reader struggles with dark themes or depictions of gender-based violence, have the potential to be highly triggering (I do want to commend the author on the fact that these triggers are clearly reported at the beginning of the book itself). The book is very, very good; and it carries on its' intended message well. I still find it a little too dark and complex to read as an escapist fantasy. But again, and I cannot stress this enough; I am still clearly not in this book's intended audience. If you like Game of Thrones or other high fantasy series and wanted a book that better navigated issues of privilege, power structures, feminism, and representation of marginalized groups, pick up this book immediately and have fun.

Readers excited by the LGBTQ+ representation, also be aware: there isn't a strong LGBTQ+ romance in the book. There are many, many strong LGBTQ+ characters (including trans characters, which is delightful). But this is a dark, intense book, and I think the issue is it's hard to explore lighter relationships with such an intense tone. Not blaming the author at all because I think she was trying to balance things and she does a really good job at exploring the non-romantic aspects of the queer undertones (i.e. the huge community of women/trans bandits, the friendships between the women and queer characters given spotlight), but to be clear, do not read this book because you're excited about the lesbian romance. To avoid spoilers I will stop there, but let's just say you will be disappointed.

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displacedcactus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? No

This book was something alright. Queer, feminist retelling of the classic Chinese story The Water Margin, but it was really violent and some of the heroes took some actions which were so unheroic I almost DNFed about 2/3-3/4 of the way through... and then it was never mentioned again and had no real impact on the story so it felt like it was just there for shock value? Make sure you read the TW/CW on this one, and realize that some of this stuff is done by the protagonists, not just the antagonists!

For those who prefer their books without romance, it didn't have any romantic subplot, so there's that.

Over all, the writing was pretty strong. Characters behaved consistently, pacing didn't bog down too much, and the martial arts fights were really well-described, allowing me to really picture them as scenes from a wuxia film! I suspect some readers who really enjoy morally grey/anti-hero characters will enjoy the heck out of this one. I definitely enjoyed parts of it, but overall it wasn't one of my favorite reads of the year and I'd hesitate to recommend it without a whole lot of caveats.

Note: I've never read The Water Margin so I don't know how closely this cleaves to the original and how many of my complaints are related to the original content. I don't feel like my enjoyment of the best parts of the book was hampered by my lack of familiarity with the book that inspired it, but probably people who are familiar will get more enjoyment!

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leanne_miron's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.0

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duesaji's review

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was the epitome of engaging. I had a wonderful time reading this book. It says in its description that it is inspired by Wuxia and old KungFu movies, and you can tell! Reading it felt like watching a movie or a miniseries. You’re constantly switching POVs to see what other characters are up to. I was always sad to leave the main character’s POV but the other ones would rope me in as well.

Water Outlaws is marketed as an LGBTQ+ book, but don’t expect it to be a deep dive into the life experiences and internal journey of what it means to be a queer person. Instead there are many LGBT+ characters that just so happen to exist naturally in this world. Which was really cool to see. There’s disability rep in here too. (I don’t have this particular disability so I can’t speak to its accuracy)

Although I really like this book it isn’t a 5 star read. I’m stingy with my 5 stars. <light spoiler> One of the major character’s POV got grating at times. Her inner world was very tumultuous and she was involved in an abusive situation. I felt like something was missing in her POV to really SHOW her character development. Where she started and where she ended up made sense, but the journey there was a little eh. </light spoiler over>

I would suggest trying this book out if you enjoy action movies and dramatique✨over the top villainous caricatures.

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sarrie's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

TL;DR: A very dense story with far more telling than showing. It might stick with me for a time, but I doubt I'll continue what seems to be a series.

It's not often that I can quote a classic writing tip when writing reviews, I'm not critical in the actual craft of writing but this time I can. Show, not tell is a great golden rule, and one I don't think this book adhered to great. It's dense and wordy and we spend a lot of time in the minds of characters as they mull, and think over things. It left me feeling heavy and not... enthusiastic about reading. While I definitely enjoyed parts of this I was not jumping up and down or glued to the pages.

The Water Outlaws follows our main character Lin Chong who is a well respected Arms Instructor for the military. All of that comes crashing down around her after she is sexual assaulted (on page, so mind your triggers), and fights back. This earns her a brand, a fake confession that she attempted to assassinate a high level commander (the same that assaulted her) and a death sentence. With some help of a friend she is sent away to serve out her sentence in different and easier location. From there things unravel, Lin Chong becomes caught up with a band of bandits, all women or queer in some fashion. Meanwhile the men and friend left in the city are slowly becoming more corrupt, more power crazed, and lost in each other's madness.

There was a lot about this I enjoyed but I do wish we'd seen a faster pace plot, more action, and less telling us of feelings. I'll likely try more of S.L. Huang, but I'm not completely sold on her style for me as a reader. This one was heavy, and dense for me. If you enjoy your stories to be a bit slower and in this style this could be the pick for you though!

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wandering_not_lost's review

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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adancewithbooks's review

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dark 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

Thank you to Solaris and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.

"I only mean that as yet, our advancement has not come at the expense of men. But it shall. It must. There is not sufficient room for us otherwise. Our true success will mean some of them lose power...and that will not come without anger and fear. "

"Then we should slow its progress. A tidal wave spread over many generations becomes a gentle flow, and either one gets to the end. "

"A flow! You mean a trickle."

"Even a trickle can wash away a mountain eventually. "

The Water Outlaws is a gender spun retelling of the Chinese classic novel Water Margin. And a hefty one at that. The author doesn't once shy away from talking about the hard things in this book. Which can make this book a little jarring in places but it is also important. Because even though this is set in the past, a lot of its topics still has baring on our modern days.

The above quote shows how this book starts. Our main character Lin Chong believes that if she follows the rules and keeps her head down, she will be respected and be kept out of harms way. Unlike younger females she sees who are naive. It isn't right if it happens to them but changing your behaviour is a must to survive. That is until she finds that despite her perfect behaviour and older age, she is sexually assaulted by her superior. The thing that she was trying to protect her friend from by coming with her, now happens to her. And when she does end up fighting, she gets accused of treason.

That whole scene of the sexual assault. All the thoughts that Lin Chong had. It perfectly illustrated why most women won't tell about sexual assault right away. Why they don't just kick back or slap a hand away. Because the power always lays with the men or the position above you. Because if you slap that person away they will slap you. Because if you don't lie down and be silent, they will threaten your family or take away your job. Sexual assault isn't just physical. It is also psychological. A mind game that the assaulter plays on you. And it is society that says, stop complaining, stop whining. It is not that bad.

'How could civilization be rotten to its core and still function?'

It is also a story that champions women, feminism. There are women that are strong, smart and capable of being leaders. It was interesting to see that Lin Chong's friend, who championed feminism the most, was the one that ended up giving out on her principles when put on the spot by someone higher in power. Yet Lin Chong changes to wanting to throw out a tidal wave. Because in the end, when you are forced into a corner, sometimes you have to lash out.

I would have rated this book 5 stars but it took slightly too long to get to the end. And I wasn't particularly happy about that scene of cannibalism and revenge. I understand the revenge, not everyone is pretty in anger. But the cannibalism was a step too far for me.

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lettuce_read's review against another edition

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Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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