Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Den femte årstiden

I must say, I knew it had dark themes, but I wasn’t prepared for just how dark and how pervasive the whole thing was. I think that’s what took down the enjoyment factor a bit for me, I get that life is hard in this universe, but I kinda hate when authors make us care for the main characters and then put them through nothing but pain and suffering for the whole book. I mean, can’t they be at least a little bit happy? lmao I totally recognize that’s a personal taste thing and not exactly a fault with the book. Maybe if I had read it at a different time in my life I would have felt another way, but I couldn’t help but get a little bit depressed everytime I read a new chapter.

Other than that though, this book was pretty much impeccable.

The writing style was beautiful and engaging, and somehow managed to create an incredibly emotional environment and deliver powerful feelings without being super flowery or descriptive, which I found impressive. It was to the point, but impactful? Quite unique from what I’ve been reading and a weirdly appropriate choice in a book thats about stone wielders.

On that note, I think the greatest strength of the book is definitely the worldbuilding. The magic system (if it can even be described as magic, some cool natural phenomenon turned technology out of a sci-fi novel would be just as accurate to describe it) is superb in its complexity and originality. All of the rules and the way their powers work around them are fascinating to read about.

The way the author organized the plot and the pacing was stellar as well. She did that super satisfying thing that authors do where the book starts with a bunch of different threads and timelines that seem disconnected but that get progressively closer to each other and it all comes to a head as this “everything is connected” climax. Pretty cool

The character’s as well were nicely fleshed out. But again, thinking about them makes me sad lol

Overall, a great read for fantasy and sci-fi fans alike. Was a tiny bit too sad and depressing for me to find extremely enjoyable, but still I don’t regret reading it.

Content Warnings

bandysbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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sunsetcity's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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beldaran1224's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

5.0

I cannot rate this book highly enough. It starts off with a bang, and what exactly the bang was is something the book takes it's time getting to, and its GLORIOUS. The book is a masterpiece from a master of her craft, a book that manages to be both technically interesting and just a up-all-night-until-you-finish and why-didn't-I-pick-up-the-sequel-already kind of book.

If you're interested in what makes the book interesting from a technical standpoint: let's start with one of the perspectives being written in the second person ("you"). I've seen those who couldn't get past it, but the reveal of exactly who the narrator is is definitely worth it. Then there's the expert use of multiple perspectives. A first for me was the use of an interlude that really amped up the tension.

I'll say here that I mostly stick to my epic fantasies and don't venture into science fiction much, and while post-apocalyptic can be fun, I've never found one to rave about before now. This book manages to blur science fiction and fantasy seamlessly, all in a constantly-post-apocalyptic-but-also-currently-apocalyptic setting.

The setting is fascinating - a planet so unstable that its occupants suffer irregularly-scheduled climate-based apocalypse. This state of affairs has shaped everything about the way people interact with the world as well as themselves.

The magic system includes a clear sense of where someone falls in terms of power, and how magic works is explored and explained in great detail.

More than anything else though, this is a very intense book. There are a lot of heavy emotions being processed during the course of the book, and Jemisin manages to do this in a very authentic way. If you have trauma triggers, definitely review the CW section, because this book will put you through it.

Overall, the book manages to balance world-building, plot and character development exceptionally well. I don't think there's any notable flaws to this book at all.

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geekywoman14's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

There are some very heavy parts to this book, but they add to the story in such a way I don't think it would be possible to omit them in any way. There is a transperson in the book, but they do not experience, at least not that is mentioned in major detail, dysmorphia. There is a brief mention of transphobia when

their parents quietly disown them, only in part because they are transgender, not the primary reason.

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