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reddeddy's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Genocide, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Deportation
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Self harm, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, and Dysphoria
lunep's review against another edition
- 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
Also because my last review was long but focused on what I didn't like, I want to give more depth to my positive reviews so I'm gonna make a couple positive comments about what stayed with me the most:
- This book made me absolutely adore Wen. She didn't have too much screen time in the first, and her character at the beggining was clouded by Shae's view of her, so I loved getting to see more of her this book, and what we saw of her. I loved how she was there for Shae when Shae went trough rough patches, and how both of them helped each other and truly became friends and sisters. I loved how she wasn't scared of doing whatever she could to help her clan, and how she knew what her strenghts were and played to them. She's just amazing
and I hope she gets better on book 3, I was seriously so scared at the end of the book when she, Anden, and Rohn Toro got attacked, I was literally screaming at my ipad - I also loved Anden's growth, he was already one of my favorite characters from book 1, and I felt so much for him at the end of it and at the beggining of this one, but I'm glad to see he grew onto himself more fully. He's my baby
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Suicide, Xenophobia, Medical content, and Abortion
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, and Vomit
sarah984's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Genocide, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism
horizonous's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Kidnapping, and Abortion
◦ Death = Brother, Grandparenttalonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Kidnapping, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Excrement, and Vomit
heartbrekker's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Abortion
Minor: Ableism and Animal death
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is book two of a trilogy, so it's time for my normal book two check. This wraps up several things which were left hanging from the first book; The storylines are complicated enough that I expect the repercussions of how many things were wrapped up will have echoes in the third book, but many things feel either resolved or escalated to a more serious level where we have something legitimately bigger things to worry about and the small stuff is closed. There's a pretty major storyline which is introduced and resolved within this book. I'm thinking of a particular one, but there are several contenders depending on how narrowly you define "introduced and resolved" in this volume. There are, heh, so many things for the sequel to pick up. This is the saga of a family and a nation, every book spans years, and I'm very excited to find out what happens to them after this portion of the story. There's also some pretty major things that come to a head at the end of this book and I need to know the aftereffects. There are several returning POV characters from the Jade City, plus a few minor ones, and their narrative voices feel pretty distinct even though we don't get much time with the minor characters narrating. Sometimes those differences are accomplished through conveying their assumptions about what's going on, as different people have different levels of information, but the rotating cast of main point-of-view characters definitely have distinct voices from each other. And, finally, answering whether someone could start with this book and have things still make sense... I think so. Because the book has so many story threads and characters it's actually pretty good about grounding you in the importance and history of a character either the first time they show up in this book, or pretty soon after. It never felt like infodumping to me, but there were little descriptions or things the characters were mulling over which could either make someone remember their importance from the first book, or serve to establish them to someone who hadn't read Jade City but decided to read Jade War. I read Jade City a few months before reading this and the reminders were welcome without ever being annoying. Enough time is passing for the characters that those refrains are important even if you remember everything because it lets you know what the characters are still worrying about one, two, or even five years after it happened. That being said... don't read this by itself. Yeah, it'll probably make sense, but the resolutions that do happen here will be so much more meaningful and emotionally impactful if you've already spent a whole book getting to know the characters and the world first.
I appreciate the way that this series so far is really engaging with the way that this kind of bloody decade-long conflict would leave a lot of people with disabilities, both visible and invisible. There's a character who became disabled in Jade City who reappears in Jade War in a minor but important role, as well as discussions of how various characters are either ignoring or dealing with the emotional impact of all this stress. There's also a character whose entire arc in this book is built around how he recovers (or doesn't) from some pretty brutal trauma in the first book. I can't vouch for the realism of each individual depiction of disability, but as a whole it creates a feeling that author took the time to try and get it right on a variety of facets. It's good worldbuilding, great storytelling, and makes me feel cared for as a reader even as I worry which of my favorite characters will die next.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, and Rape
CW for ableism (minor), animal death (not depicted), rape (not depicted), abortion (not depicted), sexual content, suicidal thoughts, homophobia, blood, gun violence, violence, parental death, major character death, death.