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eclipse799's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Child death, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, Body horror, Cancer, Ableism, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, and Medical content
rwxtd's review against another edition
3.75
Anyway, shoutout to this book for uh being required reading and forcing me out of my reading slump against my will, I guess. I liked it well enough. There's enough going on that it kept me decently invested, I wasn't ever really bored and I never had a bad time at any point during the reading process. The beginning was a little harder to get through, but that was probably more a fault of the reading slump than the book itself, because it starts off pretty fast and action packed basically immediately. It definitely got easier and faster in the second half, at least for me- again, whether this was a result of the reading slump or my actual investment in the story is hard to say, but I think probably it was a mix of both. I did care more about what was happening in the second half. I will also say, if loose ends bother you in stories, this is probably not the book for you. There were quite a few unanswered questions. I thought it did a good enough job of justifying why it didn't need to explain things or why it left them a mystery that it didn't bother me- but there were also points where it was definitely obvious that the author was basically saying "this thing doesn't need an answer, don't worry about it". So if that's irritating to you, you probably won't like this book.
One thing I didn't love: I felt the writing style was a little clunky at times. It was pretty obvious about the points it was making, and not necessarily in a way that felt intentional. It was very tell-not-show, I think, or at the very least it was both show AND tell, and I don't think both were required.
That being said, I did find Phoenix to be a really interesting character. Even if I don't necessarily agree with her, everything she says and does makes sense- all her actions are justified based on how she and the people around her are treated. I also liked the framing device the story used- sort of a story within a story, and the way it ended I thought was also really interesting. I'm not going to spoil it, but I did think it brought up some really interesting ideas about translation, time, truth, and all that.
All in all- pretty good, didn't love the writing style but I did find it interesting and I liked it well enough. Might recommend it in certain circumstances, but not to everyone. I feel like this probably won't end up being particularly memorable for me.
Also- and I wouldn't count this as a criticism of the book, it's mostly just personal preference and something I wanted to comment on because I find it interesting- there were a weird number of romantic/sexual relationships for a book that is super not about either of those things? Like some of it makes sense to a certain extent- Phoenix is frequently reacting to the fact that Big Eye is taking away people she loves, so giving her love interests makes sense. There are other relationships she has that elicit similar reactions, and the romance aspect isn't strictly *necessary*, but it does make sense. That being said- the romance stuff definitely falls in the "tell not show" category. Both relationships develop off screen, and we only see the characters interacting after we have already been informed that they are in love. Additionally, two of the characters besides Phoenix are mentioned or implied to have had sex off screen at various points, and I'm not entirely sure what the purpose is in either case. Why did you mention this to me? Why does it matter? What does it add to the plot or characters? I genuinely can't think of a reason why. And none of these relationships are the point of the book- they provide motivation for Phoenix, but the actual romance element of things is so minimal and so not the point. Literally the only reason I mention this is because it happens all. the. time. It's such a bizarre blind spot for most people- romantic and sexual relationships always get put in the weirdest places, for no reason, and no one bats an eye because everyone's so used to it. Again, not even really a criticism, I just think it's strange.
Graphic: Racism, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, and Death
Moderate: Torture, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Body horror
Minor: Death of parent, Genocide, and Cancer
It's not particularly graphic-it doesn't go into much detail- but it does mention/briefly describe a lot of really awful things happening to people so lots of content warnings heremandkips's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, and Child abuse
Minor: Sexual content and Cancer
macknificent's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and War
Minor: Sexual content
bluejayreads's review
- 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
- The other book by Nnedi I read this year, Remote Control, also featured a glowing alien seed in a box that may or may not have granted magic powers to the protagonist and ended up planted beneath a shea tree. The two books are otherwise very different so it’s weird that they were so similar in this one plot point.
- The sex scene made me a little uncomfortable. Phoenix may have the body and mind of a 40-year-old, but she’s only been alive for three years at that point. Plus she enjoys what’s happening but explicitly does not know if it was sex or not. I’m not sure where that falls in terms of informed consent but it definitely fell in my personal “I’m not entirely comfortable with this” zone.
I hadn’t originally planned to read Who Fears Death, but I think I might now. I know that book follows a completely different set of characters and is set after the events of this book, but I liked this one so much that I want to read Who Fears Death anyway.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Body horror, Torture, and Death
Moderate: Suicide, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer and Sexual content
aconfundityofcrows's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Racism, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, Body shaming, Body horror, Blood, and Misogyny
Moderate: Excrement, Child death, Child abuse, Slavery, Torture, Islamophobia, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Infertility, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Kidnapping