Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Viúva de Ferro by Xiran Jay Zhao

42 reviews

lemonwrlds's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

julbel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Intense experience of one young woman's struggle in a system that views her as no more than fuel for an endless war. 
The quick pace of the book does leave me wishing for more moments of quiet, which are few and brief, to get a sense of the characters outside of turmoil. Zetian, Shimin and Yizhi are compelling characters, with much potential for further development of depth (and hopefully *some* down time to figure out who they are when they aren't trying to overthrow the government). 
Looking forward to the continuation of this story in the next book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Police brutality

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

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

justmys's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

I enjoyed the world the story took place in. The premise and intrigue but I wish there had been more of it.
Everything happens so fast and so easily (???) that it just felt...like watching a movie adaptation of a novel?
I didn't like the main character. I wanted to.

But every time she opened her mouth I cringed at her. She was not the cold genius she I thought she was. She was manipulated and easily played and only accomplished what she did because of the men around her. She never did anything herself.

If there's another book set in the same world I'll read it. It's an easy read and a decent idea for a story. I just hope we get to delve further in and read a novel instead of watching the YA movie version.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

magnan1mouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical trauma

blackberryjambaby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, War, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Grief, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

ender24's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

DAMN.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

icy_queen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Do not expect any of the characters to be "nice" or "good people" and be prepared for many horrible things to happen (definitely check trigger warnings)! If you're ok with that or even enjoy reading it, I highly recommend this book.

The main character is absolutely, wonderfully unhinged and hellbent on revenge for her sister, herself, and all the other girls that were sacrificed, mutilated and/or killed by their society. She doesn't stop at killing her sister's murderer, but strives to destroy the whole system with the help of her soft "rich boy" bestfriend and her dangerous, bad boy, involuntary co-pilot (the three of them form an actual love triangle).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, and Police brutality

Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Xenophobia, and Medical content

There is a a short list of potential triggers at the beginning of the book. Other triggers that cannot be tagged and could be huge SPOILERS:

Main Character Death (unclear if it's final) Foot-binding of girls' feet Domestic Abuse is pretty normal in this society Boys are hugely preferred over girls Purity Culture Etc.

ajhling's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is not just gold tier, but platinum tier. It's such a great book that I have technically brought two copies of - the paperback (which I brought first) and the audio (which I brought so I can listen while driving or playing video games). I have all intentions of buying an E-Book version in the near future so I'll always have a copy on hand. 

This book has characters that are mostly grey at best, and down right evil at worst. Our protagonist is a ball of rage and is someone who would be seen as the villain in many works of fiction. I love it. Even her romantic partners are on the verge of being villains in other works of fiction. 

My favourite part besides the plot and our protagonist and her romantic partners, and the world as a whole?

The fact that there's no explicit sex scenes which have impregnated the publishing industry these days. Meaning you have a book that treats its readers like the older teens and adults that we are without having to worry about sex scenes because it's aimed towards an older teen, recent high school graduate age range, which apparently means sex most be included un the eyes of modern publishers.

I'm so hoping that the lack of explicit sex scenes continues onto the next book/s in the series (though even if they were present I'd still buy/read them anyway).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

miggyfool's review against another edition

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

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism