Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee

12 reviews

pandacosm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad 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

4.75

I loved this book!! It was so interesting that Kyoshi had such a different beginning from the impression we get of her as a mature avatar in the TV series, and I'm glad one of the ATLA creators warned us at the beginning about it because I might have been very puzzled otherwise.

I think it was clever and fitting that if Kyoshi was going to struggle with bending, it would be because she was too powerful about it. It's not the first time I've seen this trope but it suits well.

I absolutely adored the bi/pan representation, of course, and I had also been hoping for

polyamorous representation but alas... poor Yun... though who knows what book 2 will bring?

I loved seeing Kyoshi get a found family. Every Avatar deserves their Avatar gang! It was touching how the bonds were woven as Kyoshi and other characters battled with the traumas they went through and recognized similar experiences in each other. There were also interesting bending techniques displayed. It was great to see airbenders get to be more involved since they hadn't been massacred yet in this era.

I just hope Kyoshi can find a great airbender companion as well eventually. It feels a shame that she lost Kelsang when we got so little airbender rep in the main show, but I understand why it happened. Part of me wonders if Kyoshi's airbender mother is truly dead?

It was also very interesting to see the corruption behind the scenes of

those who support the Avatar. I had already thought before reading the book that it must have been difficult during times of the Avatar cycle when they're too young to do anything and wondered what people in the past before Aang's long disappearance did about that, guessing that there must be a support system in play. It's touching to see that the Avatar's companions who outlive him who play a part in that. I'm also not surprised at the implied White Lotus involvement, though we'll see if that's confirmed in the sequel.

Fair warning to those who watched the TV series that this book is far darker and would never be allowed to be broadcast to the same audience as an animated show for kids, but I think the majority of us ATLA fans are now old enough to be fine reading it. There's a lot of death, and the only reason I took 0.25 stars off my rating is because

I found Lek's death unnecessary. All the other major character deaths spurred plot and character development, but I feel that Lek's was just unnecessarily rubbing salt in the wound and didn't really change what was going to happen. Kyoshi was already going to meet with Jianzhu to get Rangi back no matter what happened to Lek.

I also don't like that

the found family split up at the end-- why do authors always do this???--

but I assume that will change in the sequel so it didn't affect my rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Medical content

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

There was a lot of dark content in this book so I apologize if I missed tagging anything. The homo/lesbo/biphobia is not actively enacted by any character, but it's just briefly mentioned by a supportive character that others might not be as understanding.

ashlikes's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Genocide, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Torture, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

kaixv's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse and Gaslighting

Minor: Child death, Physical abuse, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

urezia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

- Like many people have said, it is almost necessary to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender to have a lot of context regarding the world and politics that take place in this story.

Kyoshi's story always interested me since we learned about her from the show and this has done a good job explaining the beginning of her journey and the struggles that led her to become the amazing avatar we know she is from the animated series.

I think the beginning of the story develops really fast, then most of it develops quite slow, and the last chapters go too fast. The last chapter when faster than many of us would have liked, but I guess that's to make us read the second book? 

The writing was weird at times. I had to re-read many sentences and paragraphs multiple times to understand what it meant, but maybe that was just me. 

I was really invested in some chapters and I wasn't as much in others, but I kept reading because I wanted to finish the book and learn about her story. 

I think emotions and events were expressed very maturely. It's clear that this is not for the same age-group audience that watched  Avatar: The Last Airbender. 

I was hesitant between 3.75 and 4.00 because of the chapters that I found boring and how some parts were written, but overall I loved the story because I love the character! I loved her after the show and now I love her even more after the book. I'll be giving the second book a try. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol

somelesbianwriter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

F.C. Yee should've been a writer on the shows. these books are ELITE. painful, exciting, interesting, queer, fits perfectly in the universe but also with a maturity that the networks and age rating limited in parts of the original shows?? sign me up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Physical abuse and Abandonment

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment

azalya01's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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 is such an incredible story. The writer of this book takes such care in crafting such an important character like Kyoshi. I can really appreciate the depth and darkness this book takes in it's additions to the world building of the ATLA universe. Everything in this book if fully fleshed out and you can tell that Yee really respects the source material of the original show. This book definitely has dark moments, so approach this story with that in mind. I loved this book, it's one of the best I've read in a while, and I can't wait to start the sequel: The Shadow of Kyoshi.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood and Classism

Minor: Bullying and Vomit

allisonh_'s review against another edition

adventurous inspiring reflective 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

4.5

I’ve already ordered the second book in this series. As an enjoyer of the Avatar universe since I saw the original ATLA, this fit in well with my understanding of the world while expanding and explaining things. The smooth expansion of lore is exactly what I was looking for and I cannot wait to read more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death and Toxic relationship

suzanne28's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.0

This was a great book I buddy read with my sister as we grew up watching the Avatar series. This was an exciting read whether or not you watched the show, but full of little nuggets of foreshadowing and nods to the TV series. 

This was definitely YA, not PG like the kids show. Kyoshi is a notoriously murderous Avatar and this is her back story. Unlike the stories of Aang and Korra which spend a lot of time showing how they worked tirelessly to master elements, this book is more about the political landscape and how Kyoshi became the legend she is in the time of the TV series. There were a lot of twists and turns, characters you loved, loved and hated, and loved to hate. The author really brought the culture of the Earth Kingdom to life—the good and the bad—and used classic Avatar sage wisdom mixed with well-timed humor.

My sister and I are excited to continue to the next book and watch the Kyoshi movie when it comes out in a few years! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Misogyny, Medical content, and Kidnapping

cozyscones's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment

melancholymegs's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia