Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Waiting on a Bright Moon by Neon Yang

10 reviews

emily_mh's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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? No

3.5

The issue with this novella is that it tries to achieve too much for a work of short fiction. We start out following a servant of an empire, and finish with the final battle in the rebellion against that empire, all within 44-odd pages. If Yang had confined the scope to a portion of that story, or written a full-length novel, it would have worked a lot better. As such, everything (plot, character, theme) felt rushed, despite being really interesting.

I’ve already pretty much covered what went wrong with the plot: there was too much of it. In terms of characters, I think the retrospective introspection highlighting the MC’s past was effective in giving explanation for her current actions. But I wish we had gotten a better feel for her overall. The LI was, unfortunately, a shadow of a character. Consequently, the romance felt hollow. I actually thought this might have been intentional, as the MC seems to get passionate about her lovers really quickly, then quickly moves on.

I love the theme Yang chose to explore here, which was empires and expendability; how people are expendable to empires, how they’re treated as resources instead of human beings. Again, I just wish it had had more room within the narrative.

The world-building was the one aspect that really stood out to me. There were so many cool elements, like shapeshifting magic, light as a tangible force, and singing to open portals across space. I also really liked the use of the 2nd person.

I did enjoy my time with this novella despite my qualms. It was a quick, fast-paced read that kept me hooked. Again, I just wish it had been longer or had had a narrower scope.

Rep: sapphic Chinese (?) MC, lesbian (word not used) Chinese LI

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Gun violence, Gore, and Body horror

Minor: Addiction, Blood, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Grief, and Vomit

Major: capital punishment Moderate: forced separation from a loved one Minor: gambling

drudeger's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Homophobia, War, Violence, and Lesbophobia

pvbobrien's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Torture

Moderate: War and Violence

Minor: Sexual content

maricasement's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

An interesting novella.
It is told in second person, which is unusual, but doesn't seem to use it for a specific purpose. In some ways it connects you more to the main character, but not enough for it to be necessary. 
As it is a novella, the story is short and to the point. I enjoyed that, but also would have liked to spend some more time with the characters. Yang does a good job of making you care for them, though, even in the short narrative of the novella.
Basically a short, fun read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Lesbophobia, Death, Gore, Murder, Torture, and Homophobia

laurajones's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Lesbophobia, Torture, Murder, Police brutality, Body horror, and Homophobia

Moderate: Sexism, War, Outing, Sexual content, Violence, Gun violence, and Hate crime

booksthatburn's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Torture, Violence, Death, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content and Gun violence

f18's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Torture

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content

libragazette's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

My heart is still in my throat. I frankly feel too dumb to write a review that gives this story justice, so I'm just gonna go cry.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, and Violence

iviarelle's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A beautiful but heartbreaking short story. I kind of wish it were long enough to flesh it out a little more, I feel there's room for a longer story here even if you end at the same point. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Torture

Moderate: Homophobia and Slavery

firefly's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, and Violence