Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

112 reviews

shenelle_h's review against another edition

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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? No

3.0

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catperspective's review against another edition

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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? Yes

0.5

So incredibly disappointed this book is marketed as feminist. Feminism isn’t about women also committing war crimes. The dialog is poorly written and the characters are cheesy in the worst way. I wish I DNF this book but it has such glowing reviews I figured it at least had a good ending: it did not. 
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sahayatee's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

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wildflower_magic's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book had me in a chokehold. It is a feminisism ICON. I fell hard for these characters and their mission. The world building is beautifully done and in a way that maintains the flow of the story rather than reading like a text book. I love the magic/chi power/spirit metal system. The main character is a fierce, passionate woman who doesn't just break glass ceilings, she shatters the whole building. I was enthralled with her plans the whole time. The ending is living rent free in my head and I absolutely HAVE to read the second book. 
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otakatoe3's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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happysoullovesyou's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

Xiran, take my soul already.
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kfergy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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

Very fun and interesting, a quick read. Can't wait for the next one! 
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rinku's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

Iron Widow seems to be a controversial book when looking at reviews. I stand in the middle of them; this is not the best book ever written but it’s not as terrible as people make it out to be. For me, it was a good 3.5-stars read and I’m really curious about the sequel. 

Zetian lives in a militarized society where fighting some kind of mecha aliens is the top priority, and women and girls get sacrificed for this goal. She should get sacrificed in a mecha robot as well but is able to survive and kill the male pilot instead. This whole premise definitely has some <i>Evangelion</i> vibes to it which I enjoyed. The world this books takes place in is really terrifying, and the whole atmosphere is dark and grim. I wished though that we got some more army critique since the society in this book is so heavily militarised. Of course, the feminism is very direct and on the nose, but this book is YA, so that’s okay. The media critique was also a bit too direct and a bit random.  I liked the twist at the end that
the humans are the invasive species and not the other way around
; it’s of course nothing new but a nice twist nevertheless. It was a bit too much at the end though
how many characters die
. 

Zetian is quite edgy but she’s still a fun character. I love how unhinged she is, but her irrational behaviour is understandable because she’s so scared of Shimin. She also has many cliché main character moments with her holding random speeches. The angst between Shimin and her is so great. Shinmin himself as such a dark and sad backstory, I feel so sorry for him. Other reviews already pointed it out but there’s also a lot of internalized misogyny in Zetian’s character since she’s a lot not like other girls. It’s also unfortunate that there’s not really a likable female character besides her, and that she doesn’t work together with any of them. I think this would’ve been a nicer message. 

All in all, I’m happy that I’ve discovered Zhaos YouTube channel years ago and am now able to read Iron Widow. It has great characters and feminist vibes, even though these are not very subtle. 
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cyberhavok's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-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

4.5

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beckahh_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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 was fucking incredible. I didn't really know anything about this book going in, other than it was a booktok favorite. It is now in probably my top books I've ever read, and for sure top 5 of the year I think. The feminine rage was palpable through this entire book. It was fantastic. Highly recommend.

There's definitely a lot of horrible things in this book so definitely check trigger warnings, but it's so worth it.
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