Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang

11 reviews

irisandfoxglove's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use and Violence

arcadiabaes's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Sexual assault

madscanread's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Three men who find each other throughout multiple lifetimes just to repeat the same mistakes in their love, lust, and violence over and over and over again. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Violence, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Rape, and Drug use

gaelstorm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This book was interesting and unique! I struggled to pick a rating because part of me liked it more than 3 stars but it also fell flat other times.... So I guess I'll settle for a middle of the road 3 stars with a slight leaning upwards. It was a great story concept but I wish there had been a bit more character development and that it had continued with more of the plots than it did. Since we follow 3 different timelines (which I loved), that unfortunately means that each timeline got less attention than I thought it deserved (each one could have been a full novel!). I am so glad I read it though! I flew through it and enjoyed a lot of it. 

Warning: this is not a romance book in the sense of the romance book genre. It's a romance in the way that Romeo & Juliette is a romance; the story is all about love and star-crossed lovers. So don't be disappointed when it doesn't really fit into the "romance genre."  The genres are more fantasy, mythology-retelling, thriller, with the main plot centering on romance, but not the romance genre. 

Content Warning! (I'll put this here as well as in StoryGraph's content warning section)
This book contains a fair fit of sex, and while some of it is consensual, quite a lot of it is either non-consensual or questionably consensual (e.g. drugs involved). However, I don't feel like those scenes were romanticized too much (at least how I interpreted it); it's definitively part of the plot that people are taking advantage and not being great people. At the same time, the scenes also weren't gratuitously violent or super traumatic in my opinion, but read with caution if this will upset you! Like I said above, this is not a typical feel-good romance.

<b>❤️ What kind of romance can I expect in this book?</b>
(no major plot spoilers but still hidden if you don't wanna know)

Genders: m/m
POV: 1st person POV, 3 different timelines, rotating every chapter
Themes & Tropes: star-crossed lovers, unrequited love, mythology retelling, reincarnation
Sex Scenes? Yes
Explicit Rating: R
How Much: quite a lot but not in a way that felt like constant smut, and not all were consensual, see content warnings if you need to

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual assault, and Drug use

Minor: Infidelity, Abandonment, Body horror, and Death of parent

pm_me_book_recs's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

sarahb919's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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 wild ride from start to finish!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Violence, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Animal death, Self harm, Bullying, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Ableism, Colonisation, Gore, and Stalking

Minor: Classism, Suicide, Eating disorder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

heather667's review

adventurous emotional 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Blood, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, and Rape

myinitialsarecbd's review

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.75

While I did enjoy this freshman outing from Justinian Huang, it left me disappointed. While it felt initially like it would build to a happy ending, ultimately it didn't, which likely is by design. I spent much of my time reading the book trying to connect the who is whom within the three lifetimes of the book, until it was more explicitly laid out. It wasn't always clear if it only was three people reincarnated throughout the lifetimes or more. Ultimately it was the three characters. This is what led to my less than throaty 'wahoo.' Is this a book I'll want to read again, or listen to an audiobook version when available? Yes. Do I want to buy and own a copy for posterity? No. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Murder

jellydrawwsreads's review

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Violence

booksdogsandcoffee's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

Devastating, Heartfelt, and Beautiful. This book wrecked me in the the best way possible. 

Huang knocked it out of the park with his debut novel. 

For fans of Addie LaRue and Song of Achilles, this one is for you. A gorgeous look at betrayal, love through reincarnation, Asian history/culture, and queerness. This will be, without a doubt, one of my top reads this year.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Blood, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Classism and Rape

Minor: Death of parent and Animal death