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readmeaplant's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
beesknees's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.5
The First Sister is an intense but extremely intriguing read. To start, there are some heavy themes and content warnings to consider, as this book takes place in the midst of a war. This story reads very straightforward but with still with feeling--the author doesn't make you guess what is going on, which is nice in a sci-fi featuring new and unusual architecture, fashion, religion, and technology. Multiple perspectives is handled extremely well; there are 3 perspectives to consider, one of which is a series of audio logs you are reading from start to finish which provides a nice break from simply switching from one series of intense happenings to another. Each perspective intertwines nicely in time for the ending of the book to both make sense and leave the reader shocked. Finally, the solid character development left me excited to see how our characters pave their way in the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Genocide
foreverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
Still love this book with all my heart. Cannot wait to pick up The Second Rebel!
Rep: Bisexual mute female MC (unknown ethnicity), Japanese achillean nonbinary MC, Spanish-Italian demisexual male MC, sapphic mute female side character, Asian female side character with chronic pain, arm prosthetic and leg prosthetic, queer-normative world.
CWs: Blood, body horror, bullying, death, gun violence, injury/injury detail, medical content, medical trauma/nonconsensual experimentation, murder, violence, war. Moderate: abandonment, past mentions of child abuse, colonisation, deadnaming/misgendering, religious bigotry, sexual content, slavery/forced sex work, vomit.
Rep: Bisexual mute female MC (unknown ethnicity), Japanese achillean nonbinary MC, Spanish-Italian demisexual male MC, sapphic mute female side character, Asian female side character with chronic pain, arm prosthetic and leg prosthetic, queer-normative world.
CWs: Blood, body horror, bullying, death, gun violence, injury/injury detail, medical content, medical trauma/nonconsensual experimentation, murder, violence, war. Moderate: abandonment, past mentions of child abuse, colonisation, deadnaming/misgendering, religious bigotry, sexual content, slavery/forced sex work, vomit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, and War
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Colonisation, Deadnaming, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Slavery, and Vomit
forthesanityof1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Oh god did I love this book. The premise really caught me in the beginning and I love the way the author engaged with the world-building over the course of the book to build into the plot issues as well. The way the language with the names of the different races was created particularly stood out to me. The plot was super intriguing in a nice mix of political intrigue, war, and personal stakes that made it a page-turner. I loved the writing style along with the three perspectives utilized by the author. First Sister's POV was my favorite but Lito and Hiro's were also really well done. I also appreciated the overall queer-ness of the book and world. I like that the ending especially had a lot of impact with reveals about a certain character and what actually happened. If I wasn't exhausted, I could draw a lot of parallels to issues we see in our world with queer, women, and more specifically trans issues as well. I'm dying to get my hands on the second one once it's out in paperback. If there was one thing for me to criticize, it was that the pacing sometimes reflected the author's intention to set up for the rest of the trilogy in a way that was a touch obvious, but that's being super nit-picky. Also hoping for a poly relationship in the end, so fingers crossed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, and Violence
Mental illness specifically refers to the revelation that
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