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yourbookishbff's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I also felt like the pacing in this installment worked really well, making it a quick and compelling read. We pick up right where we left off at the end of book two, with significant action and emotional revelation before 50% and an extended resolution to the conflict that felt exactly right for the series and our characters.
And the Presger translator! The levity the Presger bring is excellent, and I was laughing out loud every time the translator entered the conversation.
Ultimately, this conclusion brought all the sentient ship moments I love - the developing self-awareness, the deep and unwavering loyalty, the stubborn insistence on respect, the passive aggressive rebuffs, the new emotional revelations. God I loved this.
"...And maybe it isn't that ships don't love other ships, it's that ships love people who could be Captains."
Graphic: Colonisation and Classism
Moderate: Drug use, Vomit, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gun violence, War, and Drug abuse
Minor: Sexual content
violerwolf'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
3.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, War, Medical content, Body horror, Addiction, Blood, and Cursing
Moderate: Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Death
booksthatburn'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? Yes
5.0
ANCILLARY MERCY wraps up many details which were left hanging, almost everything I consciously noticed as being unresolved by the end of ANCILLARY SWORD gets handled in some way by ANCILLARY MERCY. There's an almost new story related to the Presger Empire, bringing in one of the most refreshing and delightful characters I've read in a long while. The translator is in a category all her own, and I would not expect any other of my favorite characters to compete with her. I found myself deeply relating to a lot of the ways that she expresses identity, especially for myself as a nonbinary trans person. There's a moment where someone asks whether she did a particular thing as a child and she replies something to the effect that she's never been a child, yes this body was a child at one point, but she wasn't the one in it at the time. I really like much of how she (and Breq) discuss identity. The Presger seemed to have something rather more suddenly shaped by names than any kind of directly human analog could encompass under most circumstances, but it reminds me of other transgender people I know for whom choosing a new name allowed them to embrace a new self in a way that hasn't been part of my own transition. I also like Breq's change in understanding about Ship, and the implications this has for all the various beings that the Radch constructed and consider to be tools.
This would not be a good place for a new reader to start, as it's the conclusion of a trilogy, but much of the story could make sense to someone who persisted in doing so. It's excellent from start to finish, though it greatly benefits from the context and characterization of the first two books in order to let the reader fully appreciate the more unusual ways that they get into conversations of identity.
The whole trilogy is great and I'm very happy with ANCILLARY MERCY as the conclusion.
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Police brutality, Death, Grief, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Violence, and War
Minor: Murder and Gun violence
black_cat_iiix's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Colonisation, Classism, and Gun violence
Moderate: Genocide and Grief
Minor: Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
starlitpage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Gun violence
Moderate: Colonisation, Vomit, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Mental illness, Medical content, Drug use, Classism, Addiction, and Cursing
Minor: Sexual content, Slavery, and Blood
mar'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
5.0
Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Addiction, Body horror, and Sexual content
madamenovelist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
troisha'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
4.5
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Police brutality, Sexual content, Vomit, Colonisation, Genocide, and Trafficking