Reviews with content warning for Blood - A Desolation Called Peace

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

16 reviews

hanarama's review

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challenging emotional reflective tense 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

The Good:

Stunning world building
Multiple, opposing POV
Complex characters

The Bad:

POV changes unexpectedly within chapters
A lot of set up, slow-paced

You Might Like this if You Like:

First contact stories, eg. The Arrival
Political Intrigue
Gradually rising tension from multiple threats
Non-humanoid aliens

Arkady Martine delivers a really powerful sequel to her excellent debut novel, A Memory Called Empire. The novel picks up about 2-3 months after the events of Memory. The conflicts with the newly discovered non-human aliens has escalated, with Mahit and Three Seagrass finding themselves at the center of the growing danger. Struggling with personal battles in addition to interplanetary ones, the two women must race to bridge the divide between their peoples and the aliens.

This novel expands many of the themes presented in Memory. Most notably, Martine continues to examine the effects of colonialism, both on the colonized and the colonizers. Through Three Seagrass and Mahit, she investigates to power imbalances of romantic relationships between individuals on either side. Martine lets her characters ask if two people in such a relationship can be equal partners, and what does it mean for the colonized partner. Can they ever really turn down the colonizer when their requests are so similar to demands?

Questions of what constitutes "You" and "We" and "Them" pervade all parts of this book. Asking readers to explore these concepts alongside the characters. Many different perspectives are presented through Martine's rich characters.

Content Warnings

bookishjd's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

nullandvoidlibrary's review

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adventurous tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

Content Warnings

kamreadsandrecs's review

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emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“If we are lucky” indeed. Sometimes we are. Sometimes we aren’t. But we try anyway, try to make ourselves understood to others – and to understand others, in turn. And when the desire to understand and to be understood in turn is genuine, borne from a true desire to comprehend, well— If language is what makes us human, then to know another, and to be known by another, is one of the greatest accomplishments of our species.

Full review here: https://wp.me/p21txV-Ku

Content Warnings

caseythereader's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.25

Content Warnings

achingallover's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

phenomenal

Content Warnings

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