Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Bluebird by Ciel Pierlot

12 reviews

micheala's review against another edition

4.0

I started this book 6 months ago and got 130 pages in and just kinda lost steam with it. When I repicked it back up it went much better. 

There are some things I really liked about this, and some things I was disappointed with. On the one hand I loved that it was about Ginko and Rig becoming friends despite coming from such different views about factions, and watching Ginko deconstruct her beliefs. 

On the other hand, the description of the book implied that June would be a bigger part of the story then she ended up being. It made it sound like the adventure was going to be Rig, June, and Ginko.  Unfortunately is more referenced then present. She's there for a few scenes, and like one call, but otherwise it's more just Rig thinking about June. 

I also kinda felt like the ending was a little rushed. The whole book is this slow feeling story, then we have the big finale and then it felt like the author just wanted to wrap the loose ends up super quick. I wanted almost another entire chapter after the final showdown to explore some of the consequences. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Drug use, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Genocide, Slavery, Body horror, War, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent

lpdx's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Gore, Blood, Vomit, Death, Drug use, Body horror, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Violence, Torture, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Genocide, Confinement, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Islamophobia, and Racism

charley34's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, War, Classism, Cursing, Death, Violence, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

lady_valhella's review

adventurous dark funny tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Vomit, Drug use, Body horror, Medical trauma, Torture, Addiction, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Deadnaming, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, and Medical content

cassielaj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I am not a sci-fi/fantasy gal, and I really enjoyed this! For a pretty involved world system in space, it wasn’t confusing or difficult to follow, and I really liked the characters and the plot. It’s dark and tense but also has a good bit of humor, which I love, and it also raises important questions about colonization, corruption, and autonomy. And I mean, Rig is basically a badass female Han Solo — what more could you want??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Torture, Colonisation, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Cursing, Death, and Genocide

dustghosts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Colonisation

Moderate: War, Addiction, Murder, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

rtaire's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Gore, Violence, Body horror, and Drug use

Moderate: Colonisation and Xenophobia

Minor: Genocide, Medical trauma, and Torture

beldaran1224's review

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book is a fun, cheeky space adventure. The author has a great style that manages to be dramatic and funny without being slow or overwrought. The book has an overall light tone, but there are a lot of serious things going on, so just be wary that the setting is heavily based around colonialism and war.

The ending

brings the rating down a bit for being a bit too "happy ever after". It actually ends up spoiling some of the more serious elements of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Genocide

Moderate: Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Kidnapping, and Classism

Minor: Abandonment, Torture, Medical content, Cultural appropriation, and Death of parent

starccato's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Body horror, Colonisation, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Religious bigotry, Classism, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Gore

Moderate: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical trauma

Minor: Death of parent and Abandonment

bluejayreads's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense medium-paced

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

4.5

An entertaining, action-filled, almost swashbuckling adventure in space, featuring a witty, reckless gunslinging smuggler who teams up with a very mysterious (and very scary) bounty hunter to save her sister from one of the three factions in a millennia-long war. There's tons of action, plenty of wit and wry humor, an interesting faction system (especially the mysterious Ossuary faction), deadly and uncatchabale assassins, and some surprisingly complex emotions. I appreciated the nuanced relationship between the protagonist and her sister and the slow friendship between the protagonist and the highly traumatized bounty hunter. And I really enjoyed having a relentlessly charismatic protagonist - I didn't realize how many of the books I've read lately have had quiet/shy/withdrawn protagonists until I found this breath of fresh air. Sure, if you look at it too hard a lot of the details fall apart, but this book isn't meant to be scrutinized. It's meant to be entertaining, and it very much succeeds at that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Blood

Moderate: Gore, Medical content, War, and Torture

Minor: Drug use, Colonisation, Genocide, and Slavery

Medical abuse, brainwashing, fantasy racism, physical/mental/emotional abuse from an institution