Reviews

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

bluecorico's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

s_h_a_r_i's review against another edition

3.0

While this was an interesting concept, it felt a bit like a let-down.
Maybe I expected this book to say more about gender than it did.

nlemon55's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• 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

4.5

poiv8's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

libofalejandria's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

storeytale's review against another edition

4.0

 Thought-provoking commentary on gender and sexuality.

dhemanth's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

cljn_010's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

4.5

pandakiki98's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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

teabrewer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

This book confuses me. Not because of the plot, but because I'm not sure if I liked it or not. The wirld building is well done and the concept of making the gender binary foreign is very interesting. To listen to this story through the words of Genly Ai, a average 1960's man despite being from a futuristic space travelling society, made it even more interesting. The book may not seem revolutionary, but that's because it revolutionized. I didn't get the critics about it being heteronormative, have you read the same book as I? Despite the Author herself regreting the decision, I think Genly Ai refering to all people from gethen as "he" makes sense to the society he came from. I didn't get the incest stuff though, and I have been, and will be, ignoring it. I'm not sure if I got the ending either

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Slavery, Sexism, Misogyny, and Classism

Moderate: Xenophobia, Suicide, and Gun violence

Minor: War, Incest, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Transphobia