Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs

13 reviews

charlotteaimee14's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark 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

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

avacadosocks's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

wandering_not_lost's review

Go to review page

4.0

Not a perfect book, but a solid 4 stars.  This was a book that mostly turned on the characterization, and that was done well.  I have a low tolerance for Esek's brand of "hi, I'm a sociopath and I ruin everything I touch, but hey, I'm so CHARMING and SKILLED (oh, and RICH) that I get away with everything!" character, so honestly though she hooked me in right at the beginning, I began to wonder what the author would do with her.  Was this going to be a tragic balancing of the scales, or was she going to be an anti-hero that we were supposed to like despite her many, horrible flaws?  In the end, to be unspoilery I'll say that I felt her arc was wrapped up in a satisfying way.

The other characters and character arcs were, frankly, less interesting, and also less well-drawn.  They just couldn't compare, but also they just didn't have a lot of spark to them because we didn't see too much of them except in how they revolved around Esek's and Six's little drama.  Jun's and Liis' coupledom was fine, but we hadn't SEEN them fall in love, so it felt a bit flat.  Chono was a good foil for Esek's flamboyance, but I never really felt I had a good hold on her - she seemed like she should never have fallen into Esek's orbit, should never have enabled her through all the things she did, but yet, there she was, becoming a terrible enabler.  Still, it was very nice to see a book that puts its money where its mouth is with a gender-neutral society - there are characters where all you know is what gender they are now, not what sex they were born as.

The general worldbuilding was interesting, but in the end I couldn't help but feel like I never hand a handle on it.  How exactly does casting work (I figured it was just hacking, but in the end the way the author describes something Jun does broke me out of that
why would the Hood program get "thinner" and threaten to "tear" the more it was copied to the ships?  It's just a program, right?
)?  And for all the politics of the Treble and the various factions of Hands that we were served throughout the book, in the end it all felt a little bait and switchy, where the hugely powerful bureaucracy conveniently faded into the background.  And for all it was nice to see an ending that wasn't all doom and gloom, it still all just felt a little too pat.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

egcdf's review

Go to review page

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

3.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

batesbarb's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense medium-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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kryptidnerd's review

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful 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

These Burning Stars is just what I wanted to read as a Star Wars fan and why I loved the Mandolorian. Bounty hunters, space chases, politics, and misdirection. The world building and lore was strong and left a vivid image of the world you are reading it was like. Even the politics were intricately established and played a background role until it needed to become the segway to the main plot leading to the set up for the second book. The fact that the youth of this world get to choose their gender and name upon finishing school and that it’s 
changable is a brilliant concept. 

The characters were diverse and complex from their motives, class and descriptions which is a huge breath of fresh air coming over from the Star Wars fandom. It is heartwarming and brutal when it needs to be.Amazing kudos for they twist and how it was set up and blew apart what you knew about the empire sided characters Six and Chono up to that point. I will not stop recommending this book to others and am hungry for the sequel. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rheagoveas's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

wreathedinviolets's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark 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

5.0

Holy fuck. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

neencohen's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

What would you get if you crossed 'She who became the sun' with 'The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet'? Why, you would get These Burning Stars.
I'm still reeling from the beauty and devastation and whirlwind that is this book. I adored the gender fluidity of the worlds, the sci-fi aspects, and all the tech and magic combinations. 
We have strong powerful characters who are grey and often unapologetic. There are amazing mysteries to be solved, and ones that you didn't even know were needing to be solved. 
The writing is hypnotic and beautiful as it shows the darker nastier side behind the Treble. 
Natalie Naudus completely nailed this narration and damn, please tell me there is a book 2 ... there must be a book 2. But in keeping with the intensity of this book and the way the author allows the reader to truly decide how grey the characters are, perhaps there is no book 2 ... ARGH!
No romance as such but the intensity and obsession of the characters with each other, it was so much more intense for not having that more obvious subplot.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

entropyseeker's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark slow-paced

3.75

This book was so immensely slow, I didn't start actually being interested in the book until 60% of the way in, though it is a sci-fi novel so that's usually the case. While the first half was confusing with all the time skips, and it was a lot of world building, gore, violence, the last quarter of the book was rather great and built up to quite a few surprising twists that left me gaping. Will still read the second part of the trilogy. Definitely read the content warnings. Not for the front of heart.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings