Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

13 reviews

malecbanewood89's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Medical trauma

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

This book was a lot of fun and validating for me. Is like The Iron Widow was able to say how I feel about the patriarchy in the ways I wish I could. She’s the best hero! Looking forward to reading the sequel when it comes out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

iane_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-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? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Genocide, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Deportation

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

merlionne's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

Had a great time reading this. I mean "inspiring" in an angry way, because Zetian's anger is quite cathartic. She's tired of being a girl in a world that treats her like shit and sometimes a ruthless revenge fantasy is exactly what you need. But don't worry, she's not always right about everything. 
I loved the mythological aspects of the world, even though I don't know a lot about the actual people and their stories they're referencing. The only thing that bothered me a bit is that all the secrets that get unveiled are kind of ....eh?  It's not a bad thing, maybe from a modern perspective they're a lot less shocking or it's a lot easier for me to expect something like that to be the case, but ultimately it works within the story and I'll read the next book because I want to see how Zetian blows up some more bastards.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Racism, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Biphobia, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, and Vomit

Even though it gets talked about etc, there are no detailed descriptions of sexual assault or other sexual violence. The book also includes a list of the biggest trigger warnings in the beginning, a lot of what I added here is in there somehow but for the most cases not overly detailed, extensive or dwelled upon.

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.5

this was a good and somewhat educational read. however, i struggled with the worldbuilding and the "magic" system. i found myself lost at some points. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

starship_olympus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

Honestly FUCK every other YA book, Xiran I fuck wit YOU

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Genocide, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Slavery

junothan's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming

recycled_personalities's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

It’s genuinely become one of my favourite books and I cannot wait for the sequel. It takes us into a world of torturous misogyny and gives us the one girl who will fuck shit up with no regrets. And, even though it’s not the main focus of the book, the romance in it is quite literally the best I have ever read and I fear that I will never read something as good as it again. If I could give this more stars, I would. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

annir's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation