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nere's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
there is something about this genre and subgenres that demands homage or reference to trope. iron widow seems to deny you any satisfaction in this regard. anytime you think you know where the story is going Zhao takes you somewhere else. its refreshing but also disruptive to the part of my brain that demands structure from my genre fiction
Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Fatphobia and Vomit
gjerne_leser'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Genocide, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Deportation
justmys's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Everything happens so fast and so easily (???) that it just felt...like watching a movie adaptation of a novel?
I didn't like the main character. I wanted to.
If there's another book set in the same world I'll read it. It's an easy read and a decent idea for a story. I just hope we get to delve further in and read a novel instead of watching the YA movie version.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
analenegrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It felt like too much telling and not showing, and almost all of the characters felt one-dimensional, including our narrator, whose inner dialogue was at times confusing and was expressing a type of feminism that is incredibly one-dimensional.
The "plot twist" at the end felt obvious to me as I've seen it in many other novels of this type, but I am interested in reading the sequel to see how the author ends the story they've created here.
I appreciated the polyam relationship and am also looking forward to seeing what the author does with their relationship in the second book.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
aolney'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kerrygetsliterary'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: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
helfire124's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
icy_queen's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, and Police brutality
Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Xenophobia, and Medical content
There is a a short list of potential triggers at the beginning of the book. Other triggers that cannot be tagged and could be huge SPOILERS:maximumhonesty's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
nenaveenstra'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
4.0
At the beginning, I was still comparing this book to The Hunger Games and Divergent in my head, and there are some parallels, sure (the most obvious being the female main character who participates in 'the system' only to rebel against it), but this really is a story of its own right, with characters that had more backstory, a very feminist one at that, and feelings other than the complicated love triangle they found themselves in.
Speaking of love triangles, I loved the one in here, and I'm dying to see how it further develops in the sequel(s). (Spoiler alert: it's a polyamorous love triangle, and I would die for it.) I never thought I would say this, but I think I'm continuing the series?
Praise aside, I did skim some of the battles, had to re-read a lot of sentences and I could barely keep some of the characters apart. Part of this is to blame on myself, and my lack of experience with the genre, part is the fact that Chinese names don't have any inherent meaning for me. It's all on me, is what I'm saying, but it did diminish my enjoyment of the book and that's why I'm 'only' giving it 4 stars.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Violence, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, and Racism
Minor: Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Murder