Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

9 reviews

queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

4 ⭐ CW: violence, death, suicide, incest, child sexual abuse mention, torture, enslavement, sexual content 

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin is book one in the Inheritance trilogy. This book is hard to describe. It's a secondary world adult fantasy that is very complicated. As with all Jemisin's works, I'm left feeling like I'm not smart enough to read it, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. 

We follow Yeine, who is telling the story by recalling it as if in a memory, but it doesn't become clear to whom until much later. She has been summoned to Sky (the palace) by her grandfather to become one of the heirs alongside her twin cousins Scimina and Relad. Sky is a dangerous place for someone unused to the ways of the Arameri, between treacherous relatives and the enslaved gods who live there. Yeine is pulled into a political and godly battle where she is a pawn for both. 

This book was so involved. Jemisin does an excellent job of building cultures. I loved the creation story she weaves with the Three: Itempas (day), Enefa (dawn and dusk), and Nahadoth (night). I don't know how else to describe what is happening in this story than to just say it is complex. Similar to her Broken Earth Trilogy, you don't really know what is going on until you're most of the way through the book, but I couldn't put it down. Her writing is so beautiful that you are transported 

This is a story about free will, freedom, forgiveness, and agency. It also sets up a redemption arc for one of the characters. I really liked Yeine as a character. I loved that she isn't just one thing (iykyk). She is angry and fearful, loving and ruthless. Her relationship with Nahadoth is also complex and compelling. Sieh definitely stole the show for me though. A god who embodies childhood, and he's just so sweet. Like Yeine, I couldn't help but love him. 

If this review confuses you, you'll just have to read the book and be even more confused 😂. I'm looking forward to book two l, since it will have a lot more world-building and focus on different characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Torture, Violence, Deadnaming, and Slavery

Moderate: Incest and Suicide

Minor: Child abuse

squids_can_read's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.5

This book was horrible. I thought this was going to be about a young woman who is thrust into politics and is fighting for the throne. Instead, I got a weird amalgamation of half-baked science fiction and incestual gods. The main character is about as interesting as watching paint dry. The world-building is nonexistent. The rest of the characters are no better. This could have been a brilliant book about how love makes us complete but no it's just about sex. Honestly, why push the point that the gods are siblings if you are going to make their whole relationship just about sex? It's gross. Do you know what else is gross, pushing that this god character is fundamentally a child and then referencing people having sex with said child? Honestly, I don't know how I pushed my way through this. It was terrible. Maybe some people will like it but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I will probably not be reading anything else by this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Murder, Sexual violence, Torture, War, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Death, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

lozbot27's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-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

3.5

I enjoyed the world building elements  and the lore. The writing did tend towards cheesy, however, I will read the sequel to see what unfolds for itempas. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual content and Child abuse

risaleel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Racism, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Incest, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Slavery, Classism, Colonisation, and Torture

carolined314's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Grief, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent, Stalking, Colonisation, Death, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Incest, Violence, Confinement, and Bullying

Minor: Genocide, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, and Child abuse

mxkanteven's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Gore, Confinement, Body horror, Classism, Death of parent, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Murder

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

mostlyvoidpartiallystars's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: War, Child abuse, Rape, Xenophobia, and Sexual violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

thoughtsontomes's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

3.75

I can definitely see how Jemisin's writing style has changed over the years. In this book, she experiments with a slightly unreliable narration that can be a tad unclear at times. She also jumps into the story in a bit of a weird spot, which left me feeling a bit distant from our main character for a good part of the book. But there are a lot of tropes here that I love. There are the gods walking among us. Death and the maiden (or night and the maiden in this case) - which did read as a bit of instalove but it makes a bit more sense as the plot unfolds. The need for balance in a universe. The idea of something adjacent to reincarnation. Some court intrigue. And although parts of the story were slow, I did like the ending enough to continue. All of these books seem to be a bit self contained though as well so I don't feel the need to rush into the next book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Torture, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Rape and Death of parent

incest - in the way the Greek gods do incest

achingallover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gore, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Racism, and Racial slurs