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meggomyeggo28'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
4.5
“the clan is my blood, and the pillar is its master.”
what a ride this book is. the characters are so rich and complex and imperfect that they come to life and really feel like family members. the politics and the worldbuilding is so immersive. and this book touches on so many important themes of spirituality, addiction, leadership, and ethical decisions in wartime in really profound ways without forgetting the plot. the magic system is truly so unique and the cost/benefit aspect to it adds another layer to the book and another challenge for the characters. im not giving this a full 5 stars bc ik fonda lee is just going to blow my mind even more in the next two books, but i really do think this is a masterpiece of modern fantasy.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, War, Murder, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Misogyny, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Gun violence
lunep'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: Grief, Death, Alcohol, Murder, Violence, Medical content, Sexual content, Blood, Cursing, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Body horror, Drug use, War, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
Moderate: Pedophilia, Vomit, Mental illness, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Addiction, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Infidelity, Suicide, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Dementia, Child abuse, and Racism
rnbhargava'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
Graphic: Xenophobia, Classism, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Misogyny, Stalking, Violence, Trafficking, War, Sexual content, Suicide, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Blood, Confinement, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Self harm, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Ableism, and Gaslighting
This is the first part of a fantasy tinged saga about a crime family. All the violence and tropes of mafia stories are present here. Certain things are also essentially superpowers. That said, it’s also very gritty with hard hitting violence. There’s mental illness, there’s drug addiction, there’s deteriorating health of the elderly old leader. There’s suggestions that one character is a sex offender and pervert. There’s essentially ableism surrounding certain figures born to Jade user families but can’t use Jade abilities, ableism suggestions. There’s vilification and racism toward certain outside nations albeit because they’re also colonizing forces. Also, certain characters’ relationships with foreign nationals are heavily talked about with racist suggestion. The connection between drug addiction and potential suicide is a major theme in the story because it’s framed within the context of jade ability performance enhancement drug usage. There’s a lot of heavy themes to suggest while reading through this mafia family novel.gus717's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Drug use, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol, Xenophobia, Racism, Rape, and Torture
daydream_e'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
4.75
Graphic: Death, Addiction, Violence, Drug use, Murder, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Gun violence
Moderate: War, Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, Xenophobia, Racism, Colonisation, Sexism, Misogyny, Mental illness, Dementia, Death of parent, Suicide, and Gore
Minor: Homophobia
Racism, xenophobia, war, and colonization are within the context of a fictional country with obvious real world analogues, but not one-to-one with real life events. Mental illness and drug use/addiction are also within the context of a fictional drug. Violence and injury is often very explicit - think hard R rated action movie - but not dwelled on excessively. Grief is a major theme throughout the book for many characters BIG SPOILER:greebkit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Otherwise the actions, mistakes, observations, etc of the characters seem to naturally evolve and really worked for me. The ending actually won me over after I was ready to just finish the book and move on. Without giving anything away, the ending seemed both to develop naturally without being out of place or a cliffhanger. You could read this and never read the follow ups. However, it is also not a pre-packaged "happily ever after" ending so it fits the fantasy realism of the book very well, in my opinion.
Overall, I enjoyed it and will be reading the follow-up book, but I am not in a hurry to read it.
Graphic: Misogyny
Minor: Pedophilia and Sexual harassment
There is a scene early on meant to depict the close, trusting relationship between two characters that is just borderline creepy. There is a continuing theme of misogyny against women in power positions that for me contributed to the realism of the setting, but could be taxing if you are sick of that reality. There is a brief mention of the discovery of a previously trusted character using his position to harass an underage girl including the discovery of a pornography stash that has underage teenage girls. I actually thought the reactions to this discovery in the book were well done and show how dismissing this like it was nothing really affected the family involved, the life of the granddaughter and why she was ready to run as far as possible from her family. Obviously, if it is triggering, you can skip it, but considering the context and that it is kept brief, I think it is there to contribute to the story not to be a jarring instance of shock value or sexualized in any way.emmacartlidge's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Graphic: Drug use, Violence, War, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Minor: Misogyny and Sexual content
bibliomania_express's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Murder, War, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Torture, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Ableism, Grief, Drug abuse, Dementia, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Colonisation, Pedophilia, Classism, Homophobia, and Adult/minor relationship
heather667'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: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Body horror, Ableism, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, War, Addiction, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Drug use, Sexism, Death of parent, Dementia, Sexual assault, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Self harm, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia, Murder, and Body shaming
Minor: Homophobia