Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

149 reviews

katizeluka's review against another edition

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

0.75

Was really looking forward to this, was very disappointed by it.

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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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traciereads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0


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jacksons_books_and_music's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

This is one of the best books I have ever read.

I do want to clear something up, though:
I see a lot of people saying this book is about revolution. That is actually not true. What happens in the plot is a coup, not a revolution. Yes, the main character is fighting for the common people, but there is no people’s movement. It’s just a main character and a friend or two seizing power.

That being said:
This is a strong book both narratively and on the line level. Any critiques I have are extremely minimal, and often more to do with preference.

Some people are really critical of the main character. I doubt they’d be as critical if the main character was a man. Readers deserve a wide range of women and nonbinary characters, including those who are messy and ruthless.

I do wish we had gotten to see the not-YA version that existed, but I am glad this version exists so the story is more accessible to young people. Given the themes, characters, and situations, I just feel a more adult version would have made perfect sense.

I loved this book and highly recommend it! I am definitely going to read the sequel. 

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ezriamongthestars's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0


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pandact's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark 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

4.75

There's a song called FEMININE RAGE by PEGGY that is especially fitting because Iron Widow alludes to the historical
Wu Zetian
(hidden because it was more fun for me to realize it at the end). It's darker and less predictable than most YA, but you should read it just because it spawned more memes than r/cremposting 😂
I hope the butterfly with gynanrdromorphism is a hint that we'll see lots more alien biology!

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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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ratchetang's review against another edition

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dark 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? It's complicated

4.75

Can be confusing if you have little knowledge of chinese culture and mythology or mecha genres. 

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leafhead's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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spiderthread's review against another edition

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

1.0


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