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Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Infertility, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Racism, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Cannibalism, Car accident, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Deportation
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Wanted to absolutely hit someone with their sexism and racism, and I loved her rants to
Kind of sad
Would recommend to people
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
I think everyone should read this book. It is excellent commentary on so many real-world issues told through a riveting story of flawed, raw characters that you want to root for. Wang tackles racism—specifically against indigenous people—, colonization, collective liberation, hypocrisy in religion, corruption in government, "benevolent" complicity, white guilt/tears, and so much more with such finesse. She asks us all to grapple with the questions: what is the cost of our comforts, and what is the effect on our humanity of the denial of those costs?
The story is a page-turner the whole way through, and hooked me within the first chapter. The magic system is extremely unique and interesting, and the world-building is so well-done. Both are intricate without being hard to understand (plus a handy pocket guide is included in the back!). The series of events is realistic as it pertains to the world/characters and the IRL issues the story seeks to tackle.
Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation
Moderate: Body horror, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Suicide, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War
Go read it!!
I still cannot put into words the way this book affected me. The premise sounds so simple, but it is interwoven with such complex issues and thoughts that are so brilliantly handled and discussed. The characters are so amazingly fleshed out and morally gray. They are understandable while also being frustrating. The magic system is unique and the world reflects so many different places and times we are familiar with.
It is amazing. Probably my top read of the year.
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Colonisation, Classism, Deportation
Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Alcohol
on a serious note, I think it’s a great story about intersectionality and how white women are not exempt from racism even with an oppressed gender identity. i thought it was a pretty sick as plot and developed in a way that i found both interesting and meaningful. the actual themes were good and could be impactful but obvi i’m true to this not new to this
Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, War
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent
This book was depressing as hell, but it also manages to capture this little bit of hope. The perfect mix to make me cry without fail.
Even though I’m generally super skeptical about epic fantasy standalones, because I feel like they’re often missing necessary world-building and/or character development, this book was written very satisfyingly and didn’t leave me wishing for more. In a standalone, the author has to flesh out the characters, the world, and the magic on a level that other authors are trying to accomplish in a duology, trilogy, or even longer series. This is extremely difficult, in my opinion, which is why standalones often leave me feeling like many things were missing or were too rushed. This isn’t the case here. I don’t know how M.L. Wang does it, but I don’t care as long as I get to read more books like this by her.
I’m not even going to go into too much detail about anything else. Just know that I adored the characters. Thinking about it, there’s a relatively small amount of significant characters, but the ones that are there are well-realized and serve an important purpose for the story.
Furthermore, the magic system is incredibly unique, unlike anything I’ve seen before. Basically, the magic works by writing code for these special typewriter-like machines. It’s so creative!
The world itself was set up well. I don’t feel like I was missing any important background information and the descriptions were good enough to imagine the setting well.
Excellent book! It’s definitely getting the strongest recommendation from me.
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder
Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Classism
Minor: Bullying, Gun violence, Infertility, Rape, Cannibalism, Alcohol
There was only one point in the book where the conversation between the main characters dragged on for a bit too long.
I did love the addition of small excerpts from the "sacred texts" at the start of each chapter, even though they made my physically repulsed (more so because I know there are many real people who believe this exact same crap).
Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Infertility, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism