Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Heavenly Tyrant

Love love love, "delightful to read" wouldn't be accurate, but I certainly enjoyed every dangerous turn.
After months of laughing at people describing this book as polical (bro did you even read the first one), I do actually see why this one gets called that (it's still silly).

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bookworm513's review against another edition

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challenging dark inspiring tense medium-paced

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

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kristenityyy's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

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mostlyvoidpartiallystars's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

Xiran Jay Zhao is a master storyteller. A sequel every bit as good as the predecessor. I felt on the edge of my seat the whole time, twisted between so many emotions.

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ellenisntcool's review against another edition

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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? Yes

3.0

This was a good sequel but not without its flaws unfortunately.

I enjoyed the action and relationship building, but then the last 100 pages were confusing and a bit problematic.

To start, I’m confused on why we destroyed Yizhi’s character and then switched it to oh he was doing the right thing all along!! It’s too late, you now made me deeply uncomfortable with how he violated Zeitian’s trust with her body which Qin Zheng also did by doing surgery on her feet to fix her disability (which now writing it down, as someone who’s disabled that’s actually quite fucked up), but I was rooting for a somewhat forbidden romance between Yizhi and Zeitian but it got destroyed.

Also, I thought we’d be saving Shimin but well, no he’s gone. He was only there to build up Zeitian’s character but it no longer felt emotionally charged because the whole Heavenly Court was confusing and weird and I was angry at Yizhi the whole time so I wasn’t rooting for the three to reunite and then it didn’t matter anyway!! Cause Shimin is dead and gone and Yizhi is a fucking dick so the relationship is dead!

I’m conflicted when it comes to Qin Zheng. Because he was stuck in a fake quarantine we didn’t see him do much aside from threaten Zeitian and be an Emperor. Then when they have sex (which is more graphic for YA) it didn’t feel like she was actually giving consent it felt like coercion so he could get what he wants. His entire character felt a bit wasted, but now he’s the villain I suppose after Zeitian stabbed him??

I don’t know I’ll still read book 3 when it releases but so far this wasn’t the strongest end to a story and the cliffhanger was okay. I do think if I didn’t re-read iron widow beforehand I would be rating it higher.

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didetritus's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

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

Wow, this really thought it was doing something.

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corsetedfeminist's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“Don’t you get it? You are to me what the gods were to you. I can’t breathe freely as long as you live!” - Zetian, Heavenly Tyrants
This book.
This book, y’all.
I laughed, I cried, I screamed, and I’m pretty sure the ending made me loose my mind.
I don’t even know how to write a review of this book without spoiling it, so this review will probably be somewhat different than most of my others.
We were warned that this book is very different from Iron Widow, and that is correct. Iron Widow is very much a girl power fantasy, and it is glorious in its fire. This book takes time to look at the details of what liberation, equality, and strength looks like, both on a small scale, personal level and on a broader, societal level.
Zetian continues to be everything I love in a heroine. She is broken, confused, and struggles, but bold enough to face her own established ideas and with a strength and fire to propel her forward. I loved watching her struggle with her ethics throughout the story as she wrestles with what it means to have equality as a woman and how to maintain her own autonomy within a relationship and a society that is constantly trying to take it from her.
Qin Zheng. I hate him. He’s very well written, but I still hate him. He’s the perfect example of a leftist man who doesn’t understand how those politics apply to his relationship with his wife (or women in general). He’s smart and charismatic and yet has gaping blind spots, primarily in his careless treatment of Zetian’s autonomy. If I see him, it’s on sight.
Yizhi is the most complex character in this book, and that made me like him even more, although I spent solidly 90% of the book wanting to strangle him. His politican side comes out in this book, both for good and evil, and it leads to a lot of horrid decisions but also some very smart ones.
Shimin, my poor baby. I refuse to believe that you’re gone.
My favorite part of this book is that the relationships focus so much on Zetian making good friends. So many heroines don’t have women around them, and this book changes that for Zetian, bringing some of my favorite side characters- Wan’er and Taiping particularly.

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rubybeep's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense slow-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

4.0

i did feel like the book went in circles at the start. For about a hundred pages we just spoke about labourism and what it means and not much else would happen and id find myself going yes i get it. Such intresting plot and world building but we spent so long talking about private property? It also broke my heart that Yishi wasnt himself for most of the book and it did hurt that shimin was only rescued right at the

It was a great book, hard to follow the first as it is my fave but I think this was a spill follow up.

i look forward to the next installment

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