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cosmicwillow'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
4.75
there is so much to say about this. while i knew from the start of the "mystery" of the gods and huaxia exactly what the reveal would be, it still felt really triumphant to get to that point when it was revealed. i loved that this book delved so much deeper into the world and lore, and i look forward to seeing the rest of the planet and beyond develop in the next instalment.
i liked the way power and the different dynamics that come from acquiring different levels of power were portrayed. while a lot of this was accelerated progress and required a decent amount of suspending disbelief (it is sci-fi, after all), i thoroughly enjoyed reading this entire book. i'm so excited to see where this goes next!
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy
havenbrown1108's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
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
jacksons_books_and_music's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Deportation
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Transphobia, Vomit, Trafficking, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia
the eating disorder I mentioned is actually a hunger strikemxarcana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
that_one_george_michael_song'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: Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Medical trauma
blacksphinx'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
4.0
I see why this one kept getting delayed; even with the extra page count over Iron Widow it feels kind of compressed (especially with the tentative resolution of many plot points around the 75% mark as the book started laying the groundwork for the next one). I'm so glad that one of my major criticisms of the previous book has been addressed and Zetian now has female friends and allies, but the process of actually becoming friends feels squeezed for time over how much the book focuses on pros and cons of communism. Sexism is still a major theme of this book and I like the way it was handled, even if we have yet to have a true resolution here. It's not that the previous book wasn't political, but this one is extremely overt with its discussions of the class struggle and the mirroring of atrocities committed by real-world communist governments. I think that's why I'm struggling so much with reviewing it... there wasn't enough concrete resolution of a lot of the "revolution" plotline for me to know how I feel about this book, and I'm going to need the series to finish before I can form a solid opinion on it.
I have no idea how Zhao will wrap any of this up in one more book. Both the "smaller" plotline concerning Huaxia and the broader scope seem like they'll need way more space than just one book to resolve.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual content, Medical content, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and War
Minor: Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault
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
corin_134340's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Grief, Medical trauma, and War
tafeeeeee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
I gasped so many times in astonishment, laughed out loud, and stared at an imaginary audience like I was in The Office. I was stunned when the Epilogue came up because I was waiting to see what happened next.
This author does not back away from violence. It's done in a way that doesn't seem gratuitous and makes sense in the vicious world of Heavenly Tyrant. There were situations that I saw coming but were executed so well that it didn't deter from my enjoyment.
Where's book 3?!
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail