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mmcloe's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
Oh lordy this is simply perfect. So so many ideas to talk about with this book, among them:
1. How trauma affects memory and its retelling, on personal and social levels
2. How we construct narratives and discourses. Written vs oral, archival vs personal, misremembered vs fabricated
3. Is the author the Inquisitor? Is the audience? Is this a metafictional work?
4. The different types of families and the circumstances that produce them
5. The fluidity of bodily and biological categories, the openness of our flesh as we engage with others
6. The long shadow of slavery and its stain on the "Western" archive of the African continent (I loved the allusion to Saidiya Hartman with "the archive is a tomb")
7. Women's networks and the ways in which they often spread subversively under the gaze of the patriarchy
And so so so much more. I sincerely hope this series reaches accolades and a legacy far beyond any literary category because it's simply unparalleled.
1. How trauma affects memory and its retelling, on personal and social levels
2. How we construct narratives and discourses. Written vs oral, archival vs personal, misremembered vs fabricated
3. Is the author the Inquisitor? Is the audience? Is this a metafictional work?
4. The different types of families and the circumstances that produce them
5. The fluidity of bodily and biological categories, the openness of our flesh as we engage with others
6. The long shadow of slavery and its stain on the "Western" archive of the African continent (I loved the allusion to Saidiya Hartman with "the archive is a tomb")
7. Women's networks and the ways in which they often spread subversively under the gaze of the patriarchy
And so so so much more. I sincerely hope this series reaches accolades and a legacy far beyond any literary category because it's simply unparalleled.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Body horror, Rape, and Violence
alisonburnis's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-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
The second novel of James’ Dark Star trilogy is even more electrifying than the first. I don’t want to spoil too much, because this overlaps with the first book - but this one is told through the eyes of Sogolon, spanning her entire life, and ending with her path crossing that of Tracker from the first book, both of them looking for the same boy.
Sogolon is 177 years old by the end of the book, and the beginning starts with her early childhood of abuse by her three brothers. Following her remarkable life, the novel show Sogolon’s long and legendary life, and greater context to the hunt for the boy, for it is a story which stretches from Sogolon’s girlhood.
This trilogy is a sweeping, rich epic. James’ writing and world building is phenomenal, and Sogolon was an especially rich character with a long and varied story. I loved it.
Sogolon is 177 years old by the end of the book, and the beginning starts with her early childhood of abuse by her three brothers. Following her remarkable life, the novel show Sogolon’s long and legendary life, and greater context to the hunt for the boy, for it is a story which stretches from Sogolon’s girlhood.
This trilogy is a sweeping, rich epic. James’ writing and world building is phenomenal, and Sogolon was an especially rich character with a long and varied story. I loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
2treads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
'Tell me what it mean that my memory is of a man telling me what my life was and me choosing to believe it, when even the gentlest of men can tell only so much story about a woman. But look at you.' —Sogolon
🕸🕷🕸🕷🕸
A tale full of political machinations, deceit, power, intrigue, corruption and the struggle for the soul of a kingdom.
🕷🕸🕷🕸🕷
At the turn of every page of #MoonWitchSpiderKing, from the mistreatment and violence that Sogolon endures, to the evolution in her quickness and sharpness of tongue, is her shrewdness, capacity to observe, learn, and thus adapt; we glean that she will become a force to be reckoned with, and in turn will have a reckoning of her own to face.
🕸🕷🕸🕷🕸
It is engrossing to see the turn of the machine that is molding Sogolon: the magic, intrigue, betrayals, punishments, and warnings; all of which she observes and learns from. Sogolon is a character that is very much a learning character rather than one that just exists for the narrative. But it is her spirit that truly captivates the reader. Sogolon will fight.
🕷🕸🕷🕸🕷
All the usual suspects of James' style is here: wicked wit, frightful violence, irreverent dialogue, feisty interplay, slight of hand; ingenious, complex and twisty plotting that really culminates to just suck a reader in, engendering questions and comparisons while revelling in a world that is always changing, with characters that just absolutely tickle one's fancy and are just as easily liked as they are despised.
🕸🕷🕸🕷🕸
And yet I am left full of questions, because a lot is lost to the mystery and structure of the telling, whereby important storylines are never fully resolved, leaving the reader equally frustrated and intrigued.
🕷🕸🕷🕸🕷
🕸🕷🕸🕷🕸
A tale full of political machinations, deceit, power, intrigue, corruption and the struggle for the soul of a kingdom.
🕷🕸🕷🕸🕷
At the turn of every page of #MoonWitchSpiderKing, from the mistreatment and violence that Sogolon endures, to the evolution in her quickness and sharpness of tongue, is her shrewdness, capacity to observe, learn, and thus adapt; we glean that she will become a force to be reckoned with, and in turn will have a reckoning of her own to face.
🕸🕷🕸🕷🕸
It is engrossing to see the turn of the machine that is molding Sogolon: the magic, intrigue, betrayals, punishments, and warnings; all of which she observes and learns from. Sogolon is a character that is very much a learning character rather than one that just exists for the narrative. But it is her spirit that truly captivates the reader. Sogolon will fight.
🕷🕸🕷🕸🕷
All the usual suspects of James' style is here: wicked wit, frightful violence, irreverent dialogue, feisty interplay, slight of hand; ingenious, complex and twisty plotting that really culminates to just suck a reader in, engendering questions and comparisons while revelling in a world that is always changing, with characters that just absolutely tickle one's fancy and are just as easily liked as they are despised.
🕸🕷🕸🕷🕸
And yet I am left full of questions, because a lot is lost to the mystery and structure of the telling, whereby important storylines are never fully resolved, leaving the reader equally frustrated and intrigued.
🕷🕸🕷🕸🕷
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexism
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Misogyny
kikireads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Rape, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, and Child death
Minor: Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, and Infidelity
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