Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Den femte årstiden by N.K. Jemisin

235 reviews

mald626's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

ches2496's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• 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

The good:
The world building was intricate and well thought-out, and the mysteries kept me reading and wanting to find out what happened. It’s also why I will continue the series!

The bad:
I wasn’t a huge fan of the second person used for certain perspectives, but I could work with it.

Trigger warnings explanation:
This book was pretty dark. Although the violence wasn’t graphically depicted, generally, there was a lot of violence against children. Which made sense for the plot, but was also difficult to read. There was quite a bit of sexual content, although usually not graphically described. Things like the breeding of humans made sense for the plot. It was referred to, but not described graphically. There was at least one moderately graphic scene involving a three-way. There were also two brief references made to sexual violence against children.

Conclusion:
Overall, it was an interesting, albeit dark fantasy with unique world-building and an intricate plot!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, and Suicide attempt

buttercat42's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

emily_journals's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional slow-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

5.0

I loved this book. I loved the characters, I loved the writing, I loved the unique storytelling; I can't really think of anything about this book that I didn't love. This book is told from 3 (kind of 4) different storylines that center on different characters. There are 3 mains storylines being rotated out for most of the book, but the prologue, interludes, and some of the last chapter are all told from a different perspective. The characters in this book are so complex and so uniquely developed and all of the characters in each of the different storylines are all equally developed and interesting. I think the writing of this book is really what stands out the most to me. The way this book is written with the 3 different storylines alongside the omniscient narrator giving hints and clues with the prologue and interludes is so brilliantly done and I've never read another book that does storytelling in this same way before. This book also just has such a cool premise that I personally am so intrigued by, but you don't really learn the premise of the world until the very ending of the book (although it is hinted at earlier) which I think is such a good way to do world building. I very highly recommend this book, but definitely be sure to check trigger warnings for this one because there's a lot of trauma/grief happening in this world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Abandonment

Minor: Transphobia, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic

mauricekofi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

I don't think I can describe accurately what this book makes me feel except awesomely sad and elated. Jemisin is a master of her craft and I thank God I came across her writing because I'm changed for life and you will be too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

angeareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

I'm going to need several years to recover from this book. Mentally, I am unwell. It's a brutal world, but just so well-crafted.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Cannibalism

jessi_c's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I admire Jemisins’ ability to craft a world so thorough in its execution. So well done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Violence, Suicide attempt, and Classism

carolyn_baird_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Grief

jennana's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

I may change this rating based on how well I think it sets up the next installments. Characters are at the heart of this story and they are very well executed. The world has more to reveal and I hope it's as exciting as it seems. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

ctara2123's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

This book punched me straight in the face.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cannibalism and Alcohol