Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Jenž utopil svět by Shelley Parker-Chan

15 reviews

peachmoni's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Murder, Dysphoria

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Rape, Torture, War

Minor: Body shaming, Infertility, Sexual content, Slavery, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy, Outing, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail

frankahilde's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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They didn’t lie when they said it was gonna be even better than the first one. I had this book for a while now and I knew it was going to take me a bit to finish it, so I put it off for like 6 months but I’m so happy I finally read it. It is truly a masterpiece. It is impossible to guess what happens next, everything is so intricately planned out, even the last detail is perfect. The characters are so unique and interesting, I especially enjoyed Lady Zhang. The book is definitely for the faint of heart though. All in all it was a great experience 10/10 would recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Classism

raix's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Hoo boy, this one is a lot darker than the first book. If I had a criticism, it's that it's sooo long, so much happens in it. There's less of a focus on Zhu, but I found the scheming of the other characters incredibly interesting, especially with the empress. Zhu and Ouyang having to team up was amusing. He's so very bitter and Zhu takes everything in stride. I love the way this book looks at gender, the prisons it can put them in and whether they choose to work within their bars or slip through them.
There's so much self-hatred packed into this book. I found it a little amusing how often characters thought "I feel terrible right now, all according to plan!". That being said, you can't really look away as you watch them barrel toward their own destruction. 
I honestly wondered if/how Zhu was going to manage to come out of this successful.

Her endless ambition was bound to be her downfall in the end, and I thought for sure she'd lose Ma forever. But once again she pulled it off at the end, doing what the others couldn't. It made me think about how  Baoxiang had thought "I can still stop now" but chose to keep going. Zhu had the courage to do what he couldn't. I had hoped for a nicer ending for Ouyang, but it wasn't meant to be. Even so, he's on his way to peace.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Self harm, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture

Minor: Infertility, Abortion, Colonisation

hanloc's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War

Moderate: Abortion, Pregnancy, Colonisation

Minor: Sexual assault, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

pvp_niki's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Slavery

Minor: Infertility, Vomit

helfire124's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark 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

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I kind of wish this book was split into two, and this series was fleshed out into a full trilogy. The pacing meant that a lot of major developments and plot resolutions ended up feeling anticlimactic, and I would’ve loved more time living in the second act of this story. There is a lot to love here, especially if you enjoyed its predecessor, but I was a bit disappointed in how this story ended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

judythedreamer's review against another edition

2.5

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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  I had the impression after the first book that Shelley Parker-Chan has difficulties maintaining tone and was proven right, because I just read the most hippie ending to an exceedingly grimdark and trigger-filled book. It's such a weak ending compared to all the existential horror and gore that came before. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

themdash's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

lm19's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Such an engaging story with so many twists and turns. I loved being able to see so many different POV characters throughout this book and Parker-Chan has such a way with words.  It wasn’t perfect but it was exactly what I have been searching for in a book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, War

Moderate: Colonisation