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sleeping_roses's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Biphobia, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
valjeanval'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
4.0
This book is extremely cinematic in a way that if it was an anime or graphic novel where I could actually see the Chrysalises and watch the battle scenes, I'd probably be pretty into it. The ruthless female anti-hero is a trope that I'm glad is gaining more traction. In the romance aspects of the book,
So plot and character-wise, it's pretty good. The world-building is all right too. I think it's just the language including occasional modern phrases that feel so anachronistic to the setting that grated on me. The ending also was pretty abrupt and included so much new information that felt rushed to me. So I don't know. I think it's a good book that just wasn't really for me. It is a shame that it was disqualified in the Hugo debacle this year because as literature aimed at a young adult audience, I think it is making some very important moves and deserved that recognition.
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
gaymoonreader'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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
Minor: Terminal illness
ebp'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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement
mitta_girl452'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
Personally, I LOVED it, and was hooked from the start.
It explores so many amazing themes of sexism, family, love, guilt, war and grief, and its all done so beautifully. I really enjoyed the anger that Zetian has towards men, and her platonic adoration for women and their strength.
I LOVE her quote:
"He does not get to make me a statistic."
As I survivor of sexual assault, that really hit home with me. When I read for the first time I stopped, put down the book and immediately wrote it out and put it up on my wall. It's just so powerful.
It is a very dark book, and if you are someone with poor mental health or easily triggered by anything you see in the content warnings below, I possibly wouldn't recommend this to you.
I love how this book speaks about the stereotype that being strong means to hide emotions, be distrustful and not love, especially for women. Women who publicly show fear, love, sadness or really any strong emotion are labelled as 'weak', when really they are the strong ones, for having the courage to show that much openness publicly.
This book is definitely a must-read, and I'm really looking forward to the sequel.
The characters are loveable, the premise is exciting and interesting and the plot is so full of twists and turns that you are always on the edge of your seat.
It's a really wonderful mashup of science fiction, dystopian future, Chinese mythology and action.
Please read this
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, War, and Classism
c_dmckinney's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.75
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ionarachel's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
persephonefoxx'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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Body shaming, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
nere's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
there is something about this genre and subgenres that demands homage or reference to trope. iron widow seems to deny you any satisfaction in this regard. anytime you think you know where the story is going Zhao takes you somewhere else. its refreshing but also disruptive to the part of my brain that demands structure from my genre fiction
Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Fatphobia and Vomit
sup3r_xn0va_maya'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
So in this book there are these monsters that attack the cities that the main character Zetian lives in and around, and these male celebrities with their female concubine partners get in giant animal shaped robots and they fight these monsters. The woman often die after going into battle so there's always a need for female concubine pilots. The main character has a big sister who was sacrificed in battle as a concubine pilot and she wants revenge. Her plan is to get chosen to pilot along side the man responsible for her sister's death.
Okay, so I really love how the
I liked how much action there was and I loved how the action scenes played out, it was like I could imagine the scenes in my head while I listened to the audiobook.
I really loved the twists and turns in the book and I'm so happy that I didn't get anything spoiled for me, because those surprises were worth the wait.
Does Zetian fall under the "evil cripple" trope that is apart of the "magical disabled persons" trope? I don't think so, I don't think Zetian is evil, though I think she's emotionally evolving. I think her character walks the line of the "evil cripple" trope though, so I could easily see how some people think she falls under that trope.
<blockquote>"Typically, the disabled characters are limited to four types: the “magical cripple,” the “evil cripple,” the “inspirational cripple” and the “redemptive cripple.” An Evil Cripple is a villain or generally morally perturbed character who also suffers a debilitating physical condition, often taking the form of paralysis requiring the use of a wheelchair. The Evil Cripple doubles as the Genius Cripple a lot, providing an intellectual threat to compensate for their physical frailty. Alternatively, the Evil Cripple can become a physical threat if they use futuristic enhancements to overcome their disability, such as replacing missing or defective limbs with super-strong Powered Armor or cybernetic parts."
- tvtropes.org</blockquote>
Overall, this was a really good book and I enjoyed it very much. I'm giving this
5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
libbyapp.com
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail