Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Viúva de Ferro by Xiran Jay Zhao

206 reviews

fragrant_stars's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Honestly I loved this book. I didn't love it.. as much as I wanted  to love it, if that makes sense. It did come off as a little "preachy" at some points-- like when the characters talk about how men aren't just animals who can't control their sexual urges-- but the book as a whole, I loved, and I also loved, loved, loved the ployamoury in it, and the characters, and the ending. I'd definitely recommend this to any and all my friends.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, Death, Addiction, War, Xenophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Confinement, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Classism, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Vomit, Ableism, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Murder, Rape, and Child death

ara02's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Torture, Addiction, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Violence, and War

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual harassment, Confinement, and Death

madmantha's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.5

What a great book!! I cannot wait for the sequel! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, Classism, Blood, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Body horror, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Child abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual content, Police brutality, Grief, Violence, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

anni_o's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring reflective tense 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

5.0

Shit, I really really enjoyed this! Zetian is an amazing main character, even tho it all gets really dark, especially towards the end. I really understand her though, and her struggles make her actions understandable af. I really liked the fight descriptions, I could totally imagine the Pacific rim like battles and it was really exciting. I can only imagine the feeling of power it gives a young woman like her to pilot such a robot

and the devastation when she finds out that her and many other girls were kept at an intentional disadvantage for hundreds of years and killed because of it just for the men to keep their ego. No wonder she kills all the men in power she can ... Queen shit honestly. Or empress shit? Mh.

Anyway! I watched the authors YouTube channel before the book came out and I know I'm late to the party on this book as it's been on my shelf for some time but I really enjoyed their writing and I can't wait for the sequel next year!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Alcohol, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Classism, Emotional abuse, War, Alcoholism, Torture, Addiction, Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

taque's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Death of parent, War, Confinement, Alcohol, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Minor: Terminal illness, Sexual assault, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Racial slurs

kbairbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

CHILLS. The rage, the revenge, the sit down little boy and let me handle it. Everything. I have been waiting for a book like this my whole life. I absolutely loved it. I want to reread it this instant. Absolutely stunning and I CANNOT WAIT FOR BOOK TWO.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Gaslighting, Child death, Cursing, Body shaming, Grief, Colonisation, Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Mental illness, Biphobia, Blood, Classism, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, and War

thenoboshow's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

A coming of age story in a dystopia hellscape where that means teens climb into body operated giant mechs to protect the country from "invading forces". Female rage in a society that treats women as disposable. Action was well written and dialogue was witty when it was meant to be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Torture, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, and War

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Self harm

rubybastille's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense 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

4.75

I would never have thought anyone could pull off blending elements of imperial China with sci-fi mecha warfare and Hunger Games-esque media manipulation, not to mention a dazzling love triangle (*not* the kind you’re thinking of), but this book DOES IT. Zetian, who has bound feet and a limited education because of her patriarchal society, enlists in the fight against alien invaders in order to get revenge on the male pilot who murdered her sister.

That gets accomplished almost immediately. After that, it’s Zetian unleashing potential she never thought she had, plotting to overturn the pilot system and possibly the entire government, and piloting a majestic mecha to new heights while she’s at it. She does it with the help of equally mistreated male pilot Shimin and media scion Yizhi, possibly the only decent males in the entire world.

Zetian starts off already overflowing with cutthroat, righteous anger, and she shaves away any and all traces of kindness or compassion as the book progresses. YMMV on how much you enjoy a protagonist like that. For the most part, Zetian is easy to root for, but I get the feeling the second book will be a very different Zetian.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Alcoholism, Sexism, War, Emotional abuse, Murder, Torture, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual assault, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Slavery, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Confinement

bee_wuud's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

Expected a lot of what unfolded in this book except the ending. I didn’t check how many are in the series before reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Confinement and Sexual assault

missjuliamazing's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

SPOILERS!!!


✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Let me preface by saying I flew through this book and had a great time. Magic, mech suits, and an honest to god throuple??? Yes please!! 

That said, I had two major issues with this book:

 1) I found a lot of the world building to be pretty clunky. Additionally, this book was marketed as heavily feminist. Some of the sexism is cartoonishly handled in a very jarring way. There were many asides that sounded like they would fit in with a 2012 Tumblr rant about feminism. It’s not that I disagree, but it was a little ham handed for my taste. 


2) the main character, despite being on a mission for revenge for her sister’s murder and eventually to change the misogynist pilot practices, seems to have a lot of disdain for other women. There is not one other sympathetic female character in the whole book aside from her dead sister, who I’m pretty sure isn’t even named. I would have loved to see more girls supporting girls, but Zetian seemed to go out of her way to hold contempt for every other woman. 

In the end I enjoyed the book enough to be motivated to finish it and still want to read the next one. Dat cliffhanger tho!!!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Addiction, Alcohol, Confinement, Sexual assault, and Violence