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helfire124'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: Sexual violence, Blood, Body horror, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Drug use, Misogyny, Vomit, Infertility, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Violence, War, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Outing, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Ableism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, and Homophobia
cass_ward's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, War, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Classism, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Body shaming, Confinement, Infertility, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts
ginabelle's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Cursing, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and War
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Classism, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Biphobia, Confinement, Mental illness, Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Acephobia/Arophobia, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Animal death, Cursing, and Toxic friendship
laguerrelewis's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Rape, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Confinement, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Torture, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and War
judythedreamer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Self harm, Infertility, Sexual assault, Dysphoria, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, Classism, Bullying, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Ableism, Abortion, Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Sexual violence
sabrinz's review
- 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
Honestly, there was so much going on in this book - not necessarily plot-wise, we still follow Zhu and her quest to become the Great Khan to remake the world, but for each individual character who's POV we see or may see as part of another character's POV.
The focus of the book shifts slightly to Wang Baoxiang and his machinations, but we still get a lot of page time from Zhu and Ouyang as well as Madam Zhang - all of them striving for power in different and yet so similar ways. The amount of mirroring and contrasts is amazing in this book.
It's a lot to take in and while it does get dark at times there is still hope, and that hope is also there at the end so that you close the book (still slightly reeling from Part 3) with a positive feeling.
This book is really worth the read - just like the first one - and such an excellent take on what is gender if not what we make of it.
Graphic: Classism, War, Grief, Violence, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Suicide, Slavery, Rape, Racism, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, and Body shaming
Minor: Abortion
ysary's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
The plot is amazing with a lot of twist and turn where you don't expect it. Seeing all the POV of the different Mandates makes you root for each of them and want to scream at the other when they fall into their traps. It's a very gruesome book with a lot of detailed violence that made me sometime have to take a minute before continuing reading.
I usually don't like military books but I could not put this one down because more than armies they are people and they aren't just fighting for power but for their future.
Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Classism, Death, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, War, Gore, and Sexism
Moderate: Sexual content and Homophobia
Minor: Abortion
yourbookishbff'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
Our character foils from book one, Zhu and General Ouyang, orbit each other even more closely in this installment, and I was fascinated to see the ways in which they aided and betrayed one another. I was surprised by how much time we spend with Wang Baoxiang, and didn't anticipate how central his storyline would become, but I honestly loved how the threads came together and how his story intersects with Zhu and General Ouyang. And never fear, because my favorite side character from book one, Ma, becomes pivotal in the final act, and I was so delighted to see how she influences the course of the narrative.
Though this book was exceedingly dark with significant on-page trauma (including rape, sexual violence, miscarriage and abortion, in addition to murder and war), these scenes felt intentional more than gratuitous, as Parker-Chan examines the intersections of revenge, sex, pain and violence in compelling and devastating ways.
I felt the story was surprisingly well-paced (given its length), and there were significant landmark scenes throughout that will haunt me for some time (sailing through ghosts?! IYKYK).
Because of how graphically violent and dark this duology is, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to all fantasy readers, but I would absolutely recommend for those who love historical fantasy, historical retellings, speculative fiction, gender+bent history, and queer retellings with deeply (deeply) morally gray characters.
Graphic: Blood, Death, War, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Ableism, Classism, Murder, Outing, Abortion, Grief, Sexual violence, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Gore, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Confinement, and Body shaming
shibh's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal death, Homophobia, Body shaming, Classism, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Murder, Abortion, Confinement, Genocide, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Misogyny, Child death, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Gore, Infertility, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Vomit, Xenophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
spec_tacles's review
- 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
This is a 5-star read, no question. If I were Shelley Parker-Chan, I would feel so proud to have created such a dynamic work of art.
Graphic: Body horror, Transphobia, War, Body shaming, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Self harm, Child death, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Classism, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Sexism, Bullying, Murder, Slavery, Torture, and Misogyny
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Pregnancy and Chronic illness
Most content warnings come from the fact that the story is about war, but it’s still challenging regardless, especially the torture.