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dwellordream's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Slavery, Physical abuse, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual violence and Rape
albusmumblecore's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Torture and Toxic relationship
Minor: Child abuse and Child death
leio_vaasi_read's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, and Sexual violence
mariebrunelm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
How to begin talking about this book? It's even hard to categorise it. Here you have a blend of fantasy and sci-fi in a post-apocalyptic world. Well, it would be better to say an apocalyptic world, because it feels like the apocalypse keeps happening. The Stillness is a big continent shaken by earthquakes, on which humans learn to survive the heard way. The story is split between three different women, Damaya, Syenite, and Essun, who each have harrowing hardships to overcome. Be warned, this book isn't for the faint-hearted. Some passages really made me nauseous and I almost stopped reading entirely at some point. But it's also an intense page-turner, one that was hard to put down even for all the heart-break.
In addition to fabulous character development regarding the three narrators, there is dense world-building. As with most great speculative fiction, the world-building can be boiled down to one characteristic (devastating earthquakes), but Jemisin has really thought about all the ways it impacts every aspect of geography & human societies, down to some we would never have thought about but which make perfect sense. In her world, magic isn't about creating something, it's about stopping "natural" disasters through energy transfer. There's also hints of lockdown and curfew and masks, which would have sounded exotic had I read this book before 2020 but now... Well.
TW: honestly, I felt there were all the trigger warnings in this book, but especially rape, enslavement, child abuse, child death, & emotional abuse. Heavy stuff.
Bonus point for trans & bi rep.
In addition to fabulous character development regarding the three narrators, there is dense world-building. As with most great speculative fiction, the world-building can be boiled down to one characteristic (devastating earthquakes), but Jemisin has really thought about all the ways it impacts every aspect of geography & human societies, down to some we would never have thought about but which make perfect sense. In her world, magic isn't about creating something, it's about stopping "natural" disasters through energy transfer. There's also hints of lockdown and curfew and masks, which would have sounded exotic had I read this book before 2020 but now... Well.
TW: honestly, I felt there were all the trigger warnings in this book, but especially rape, enslavement, child abuse, child death, & emotional abuse. Heavy stuff.
Bonus point for trans & bi rep.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Rape, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Cannibalism
henriettta's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Minor: Kidnapping
buellapearl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
4.5
This is a complex and immersive world. It's really interesting fantasy while having important ties back to our lives
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Genocide, Hate crime, Sexual content, Murder, and Child death
Minor: Pedophilia and Sexual violence
merp's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence
eve_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
5.0
Overall Thoughts:
⁕ The book concept is so original, despite it falling into the popular genres of fantasy and post-apocalyptic.
⁕ The world building can be intense at first, but it is totally worth it.
⁕ Jemisin perfectly balances 3 separate storylines with the just right amount of development and suspense, so I never got bored!
To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online/
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads
⁕ The book concept is so original, despite it falling into the popular genres of fantasy and post-apocalyptic.
⁕ The world building can be intense at first, but it is totally worth it.
⁕ Jemisin perfectly balances 3 separate storylines with the just right amount of development and suspense, so I never got bored!
To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online/
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Child death, Torture, Violence, and Sexual violence
audbaum's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The worldbuilding in this book is very interesting and, I think, rather well done. I never felt like there was an "info dump" section, which can sometimes be the case in stories set in worlds so different from our own. I think the way that the story is set up, following three different storylines, was well-done as I never found one of them the "boring storyline" where I just want to get back to the other one(s), which is sometimes the case when there are multiple stories happening simultaneously in a book. The author also did a fantastic job of slowly revealing the ways that the storylines are interconnected and how information from one reveals an important part of another. I also really liked the ways that the author looked at the idea of subjugating fellow people, and the combination of fear and anger towards those fellow people that can make this systemic problem possible. Another thing that I enjoyed in this book was the casual LGBT+ representation that is in this book. A trans woman, gay man, and bi man are all prominent characters in the novel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, and Sexual violence
One group of people is, in effect, enslaved and their humanity is not recognized in order to justify their subjugation. The book does not support these ideas, but it includes them in order to make comments on them. For the sexual violence in this book, in the context of this group of subjugated people, it is heavily implied that certain peoplebadweatherapologist's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The world-building and magic system in this world is incredible. Enjoyed the vast diversity of the characters! The content is quite dark and times and the mood is tense and sad.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual violence
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