Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Ciudad de Jade by Fonda Lee

30 reviews

readcells's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War

iono's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, War, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Cursing, Homophobia, Rape, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

skillyillian's review against another edition

It's.. I'm so bored. It reads like Stephen King. Could partially be bc the narrator is a man, but I'm just? I don't care for the gang/mafia angle as much as I thought I would? I've heard SO many good things about this, it's highly rated, but I just can't get into it. I got 26% in and just didn't care about any of the characters. It's a mix between a complex mafia/family history and a literal history textbook and I'm just not vibing with it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

pri_lakshmi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, and War

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Racism

vnderseelie's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

The overall setting of Jade City was amazing and the structures of the clans and Kekons society was intriguing. However, most if them were introduced too late in the story for my opinion and that made it difficult to understand them from time to time. As a reader you are treated as if you already know everything about the terms, phrases, gods, etc. that are mentioned in the book and I feel like some points have not been addressed at all and you are forced to accept them as they are.

The characters are really interesting and actually carry a lot of the story, since their flaws and decisions let the events progress and escalate further, which makes them feel alive and well merged with the world Fonda Lee built. Nevertheless, a lot of the actions that the characters took did not make a lot of sense in specific situations or were needlessly cruel, even given the topics the book deals with. Especially the grandfather gave the impression that he just appeared to talk the others down. Additionally, I really disagreed with some scenes and the behavior in them, which made it hard for me to continue the book sometimes.

Some scenes felt a bit too long or they were repeated in almost the same way too often, which made them repetitive to read and it seemed to just add to the page count of the book, without providing a real impact on anything.

All in all the idea of Jade City was really interesting to me, but I think the actual translation into the story was lacking in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

jasannalise's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

i can respect the hustle - this book was well written, deeply thought out and had strong, intriguing, original elements. i was expecting it to live up to the poppy war (which was my mistake) and felt as though there was an element absent that maintained an impersonal distance between me and the characters. the length of this novel is noticeable but felt very rewarding to finish it. would  recommend still, and look forward to continuing the series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Gore, Blood, Dementia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Suicide, Torture, Death of parent, and Alcohol

meggomyeggo28's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

4.5/5 

“the clan is my blood, and the pillar is its master.” 

what a ride this book is. the characters are so rich and complex and imperfect that they come to life and really feel like family members. the politics and the worldbuilding is so immersive. and this book touches on so many important themes of spirituality, addiction, leadership, and ethical decisions in wartime in really profound ways without forgetting the plot. the magic system is truly so unique and the cost/benefit aspect to it adds another layer to the book and another challenge for the characters. im not giving this a full 5 stars bc ik fonda lee is just going to blow my mind even more in the next two books, but i really do think this is a masterpiece of modern fantasy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, and Misogyny

lunep's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Vomit, and Kidnapping

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Suicide, Dementia, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

carla20's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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

4.5

I’m not the biggest fantasy reader, but this was amazing. The world building was so vivid and easy to digest, it never felt info-dumpy. I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm, Sexual content, Dementia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis