Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

79 reviews

griminycricket's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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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cnaccarato's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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


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al_ana5522's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

So good. Everything I wanted and needed for a book. When I say I want a strong female lead that slightly morally grey this is what I meant.

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ainadei's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

A very angry book. I loved it.

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mitta_girl452's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

This book is a wild, crazy ride.
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

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c_dmckinney's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.75


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vvayl's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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crasscass's review against another edition

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

2.25

Greatly disappointed but I finished the book which means it wasn't so bad.
It was very well pace and the action was usually very clear.
I was really looking forward to a cool Pacific Rim story about feminism and rage. In the end, the MC over explained every single decisions, leaving nothing to be inferred. The love triangle, though good polyamory represetation, was rushed and pointless. At no point did I think that she was in love with either men. The world is filled with plot holes and doesn't always make sense. The dialogue was childish at times, the main character, inconsistent, and the plot, thought well paced, felt very predictable, up to the plot twist at the end. 

The female rage aspect wasn't bad per se, but the main character was so busy being an activist and saving all women that the reason why she craves blood, her dead sister, isn't even named. 
I did enjoy the decent into madness and becoming the villain though I wish more could have been done with it. I also enjoyed the culture and history woven into the story, particularly the myths. 

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ionarachel's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? Yes

5.0


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krystaldelusion's review against another edition

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dark emotional
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0


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