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ender24'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
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Abortion
Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
madmantha'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
calamitydane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Rape and Trafficking
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Homophobia, and Alcohol
zombiezami's review against another edition
3.75
The political range in the first book is a lot more simplistic. I get the sense that, for this book, the author had to include a lot of detail for people to understand, but it just didn’t feel like organic conversation a lot of the time. And it just went on for so long, I was like, ok we get it already!! I think a lot of the detail of the middle of the book could have been cut and it would still make sense.
Even so, I am enchanted by the world building in both this book and its predecessor. I like how the characters are evil, petty, anxious, vengeful, … just very colorful and memorable. I look forward to the third book!
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, and Classism
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
corabookworm's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Also, note: This book is much more adult than the first, I would not classify it as YA. Maybe NA.
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Classism
SPOILERS AHEAD!! This book picks up after the events of the first, and focuses on the political instability after revolution. There are lots of mentions of death/executions/torture, as well as riots, economic instability, etc.. Zetian continues fighting for women's rights, which involves misogyny, talks of domestic abuse, and curing disabilities when they find a way to reverse footbinding. Another big plot point is pregnancy, with mentions of abortion and miscarriages, as Zetian is forced to fake a pregnancy and her eggs are stolen without her consent to impregnate someone else. Several sex scenes that are written as violent though consensual. Battle scenes, death, war, etc..gdulecki'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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
princess_azula'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism
mostlyvoidpartiallystars's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Homophobia, and Suicide
Minor: Child abuse, Miscarriage, and Blood
didetritus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- 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
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Classism
Minor: Mass/school shootings
abitbetterbooks'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
I absolutely loved Iron Widow, and I think following a book like that with a second book for a trilogy is going to be a tall order no matter what. I will admit that I didn’t do a reread of IW before starting Heavenly Tyrant and probably did myself a disservice, since I spent a lot of time near the beginning being very confused about what was going on, and trying to figure out who everyone was.
Overarching thematic spoilers ahead.
I loved being back in the world of Huaxia, and getting back in Zetian’s head was as exciting as I could have expected. I was also surprised by how much growth she exhibited throughout the novel; IW is very much an “I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs” vibe, but HT showed Zetian developing not only as a person but also as a leader. I really loved watching her figure out what having a legacy meant to her, and wrestling with those complicated ethics that come along with violence, revolution, class warfare, and women’s equality.
I would say one of my favourite elements of this book was Zetian’s arc in realizing how small her vision was in terms of women piloting chrysalises; in actuality, the majority of women and girls in Huaxia would not benefit materially from these changes in military policy. Her recognizing that she needed to make moves to improve conditions for all women, even those who would make different choices from her, felt so rewarding and well-earned, especially through watching her struggle through her lessons with Wan’er and learn so much about history and politics.
I also loved Xiran Jay Zhao’s absolutely scathing take on the Enlightened Leftist Man. Qin Zheng was a total treat of a character; impeccably written and a fascinatingly sympathetic monster. There were moments where you feel yourself rooting for him— he’s a revolutionary! He’s a hero! He’s got great ideas about economics and social programs! He wants equality for women! He is allegedly very attractive! And yet… despite all of that, he is still a horrible fucking human.
I could see so many parallels between him and soooo many “radical” “activist” “feminist” men in our modern day that it was truly chilling at times. Because then when you look at him past the policies, past the power and the skills and bravado, he is literally just Some Guy who is actually a giant hypocrite. He thinks he’s a good person because he ~respects women~ and wouldn’t ever take advantage of Zetian or force himself on her sexually.
On the other hand… there was a lot of this book that I didn’t particularly enjoy or understand where it was taking us. The last 10-15% of the novel had me going ummm… how are we going to come back from this??? It felt like the scope of the story got way out of hand and I’m honestly perplexed at how things could possibly be wrapped up in only one more book! These stakes are absurd!
There were some good twists and there were a few moments where I actually gasped out loud, but other elements felt quite obvious (like, I saw this coming since the last book obvious), so those reveals felt like they took way too long. In general, the pacing of the story felt a bit off and so it felt both way too long but also left me wanting more at the end.
All in all, definitely worth reading if you liked Iron Widow, because it’s a wild ride and packs in excellent character work alongside political commentary (perhaps a little too on the nose for our current state of affairs😅), cool action scenes, and a whole lot of double (and triple??) crossing. I’m still very much looking forward to the next book despite having some issues with this one!
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Miscarriage, Medical content, and Pregnancy
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Alcohol