Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao

24 reviews

honuzbubbles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, and Colonisation

Moderate: Grief, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Murder, Kidnapping, Cursing, Torture, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Death

bloodbrooxv's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious 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

I really liked this book, I would suggest it to anyone who doesn't feel comfortable enough to read the poppy war. Colonialism, as a theme, is very prominent,  and although it's analized in a YA-ish way, it's still very impactful. The romance was very cute, and i'm interested in how it'll develop in the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Genocide and Gore

Minor: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Body horror

Representation: chinese main characters

intoxicatedflower'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Torture and War

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

4.0

I really liked this as a lighter YA version of xianxia fiction. Really enjoyed the tropes I’ve come to expect from xianxia/wuxia like the magic, the cultivation school, the secret powers and gods. 

I also like that the author chose to take inspiration from Chinese history with European annexation, and how that affects a country and it’s people. It helps set the backdrop of why these main characters will do whatever it takes to stop an army. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent

heather_harrison's review against another edition

adventurous slow-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? It's complicated

2.75

I was reasonably excited for this book - Chinese mythology, magic, demons, and the promise of a strong female protagonist. 

The book felt like a watered down pivot from the popularity of R.F. Kuang's Poppy War. So many people have enjoyed this, but I just found it really meh. 

I was not a fan of AWZ's description of a character with a cleft lip (I don't care if it may be representative of the time it's based, this is fantasy first and foremost and it was just unnecessary). 

I didn't find Lan to be endearing at all. 30% of the time I found her tolerable, but the majority I found her to be rude and annoying. Zen's character largely served as an info-dump for Lan, and us the readers.

Their relationship was definitely not 'enemies to lovers' and felt super rushed. Not to mention the mirroring of both characters making deals with demons was pretty heavy handed.

All of the other characters within the story line felt paper-thin, and as a result it felt pretty hollow whenever anything 'important happened'.

We see Lan lose her 'best friend' at the tea-house, what was supposed to be her found family in the magic school, and her literal long-lost father. But because there was very little emotional build up, the outcome just kind of feels hollow and immaterial.

 

2.75 stars (rounded up to 3)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Colonisation, Violence, War, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Physical abuse

pocketeditionliz's review against another edition

• Pace = Slow 
• Characters = slow development and unlikable 
• Trauma-driven motivation from the characters gave me the ick. The female MC growth was not believable to me. The male MC to driven by his trauma. Overall (ironically so, I think) this book lacked the balance between hope and darkness. 
• I also was really turned off by the voice the narrator gave the female MC. 

IDK this book wasn't for me. Gave me weird vibes. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Gore, and Hate crime

vampire_burrito's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, Torture, Racism, and Sexual violence

totsfions's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25

Me reading any romance novel: that ending was too rushed.
Me reading any fantasy novel: that ending was too drawn out. 
Any way, aside from the ending taking an eternity, this book was wonderful. I loved the magic systems and the deep attention to Chinese lore and myth that went in to developing this world. It also handles the complexity of power with a nuance not often seen in YA. This book reckons not only with the injustices of colonialism, but also the power structures that existed beforehand. It allows it's characters to process their grief, but also to find just retribution; to imagine not only what their lives would have been but also what they will be next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Blood, Grief, War, Violence, Death, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Torture

gwenythepooh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Check the trigger warnings!

This is a rich, winding story that had me enthralled. I couldn’t stop reading. Can’t wait for the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Death of parent, Death, War, Violence, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

bookishwondergoth's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

4.0

What a wonderfully pleasant surprise. I must confess I only picked up a copy of this book because it came in my February Illumicrate and I took part in their Discord readalong. Ordinarily it’s not something I would have picked up as I tend to avoid YA like the plague these days.

Fast-paced with a truly beautiful, gorgeously described world, Amélie Wen Zhao has crafted an enchanting and thrilling tale inspired by Chinese history and legends. Main characters Lan and Zen are a lot of fun, highly endearing, and I was utterly gripped from start to finish.

Will definitely be reading the next one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexism, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Confinement

Minor: Self harm, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

One of the characters has a cleft palette, and is referred to with a slur that isn't really challenged, even though other people's prejudiced attitudes to the character's appearance are.