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janchamp's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Solid 4 stars! The audiobook is very well narrated and brings a lot of depth to the story. My only regret with the audiobook is that I felt I missed out on what the Diné words LOOKED like, which is probably weird, but whatever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcoholism
alyssatuininga's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
4.0
Really interesting book with extensive cool world building and concepts. It is a post apocalyptic book by a Native American author, where most survivors are Native peoples. The writing was a little simplistic/YA but the concepts and ideas were really cool. Overall a really fun, quick read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Cannibalism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
aliteralhobbit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and Violence
mireillecum's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, and Gun violence
aggielexi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I did like this book, I ate it up, finished it in less than 24 hours. Why, because I wanted to see this world get built out! I loved the idea of a "Big Water" catastrophe that decimated the world and we've got broken up United States, and the Diné are their own power in this world. I LOVED this idea. The book didn't deliver. I eagerly devoured this book looking for any tidbits on when "The Big Water" took place. Teeeny drops of information, even in passing. Spoiler alert (not really, just read other reviews), the world building doesn't happen.
You get maybe a paragraph on "The Big Water" and that's it. I was also excited about the Diné Gods, I loved this idea of seeing them in the real world and interacting with them. It doesn't really deliver there either. We're just kind of expected to take everything at face value. And then I thought about it after reading this book. This was a YA, plug and play book.
Go ahead and think the usual. You've got your main character, who is "your not average, doesn't know she's pretty, very angsty orphan teen girl, mentor found her in the time of need and taught her to be a warrior." You've got the estranged mentor she's in love with. The love interest who has a shady past, and isn't being fully truthful, but his roguish smile and silver tongue solve all problems.
Plug characters into some plot about needing to kill monsters, a-la Sam and Dean from Supernatural style (season 1-4) , and there's the book. I liked Supernatural the early season though, so I did really want to read the next one.
The worse part though, is finishing the book and then doing research and learning that our author is not of the Diné culture. I understand it is a book of fiction, but something doesn't feel quite right knowing now that she is not creating a character of her own ancestry and is depicting another culture that she may not be as intimately familiar with.
You get maybe a paragraph on "The Big Water" and that's it. I was also excited about the Diné Gods, I loved this idea of seeing them in the real world and interacting with them. It doesn't really deliver there either. We're just kind of expected to take everything at face value. And then I thought about it after reading this book. This was a YA, plug and play book.
Go ahead and think the usual. You've got your main character, who is "your not average, doesn't know she's pretty, very angsty orphan teen girl, mentor found her in the time of need and taught her to be a warrior." You've got the estranged mentor she's in love with. The love interest who has a shady past, and isn't being fully truthful, but his roguish smile and silver tongue solve all problems.
Plug characters into some plot about needing to kill monsters, a-la Sam and Dean from Supernatural style (season 1-4) , and there's the book. I liked Supernatural the early season though, so I did really want to read the next one.
The worse part though, is finishing the book and then doing research and learning that our author is not of the Diné culture. I understand it is a book of fiction, but something doesn't feel quite right knowing now that she is not creating a character of her own ancestry and is depicting another culture that she may not be as intimately familiar with.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Cannibalism, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Abandonment
ren_dragon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Police brutality
Minor: Cursing
kelseyd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.0
I was looking for a book to replicate the vibe of "The Last of Us" and boy, did this book deliver. Creepy, otherworldly, plus a badass monsterslayer who is a woman for once? So good. Maggie is living in the (dystopian) Sixth World, with only the Navajo Nation left above water, and legends and monsters walking amongst the humans. Maggie was raised by an immortal and then abandoned; now she fights monsters for bounty and basically pisses off everyone around her. The only person she likes asks her to take on his grandson as her partner (and guess what? He's cute!) and they go on adventures trying to find out who is creating the zombies walking around. It wasn't a perfect book but I am so excited to see where this series goes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Gun violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Gore
vivavia's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Child death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Death, Police brutality, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Cannibalism, and Toxic relationship
nerodyne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-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? Yes
3.75
I've been reading any of Roanhorse's books that I can get my hands on lately, and while I absolutely had a good time with this book, I'll say it felt weaker than her other books that I've read so far (though this is an earlier work so that's not shocking). I really understood where Maggie was coming from a lot of the time, the way her trauma underlined a lot of her interactions with other people and the way her PTSD was portrayed in general felt true to reality (at least in my experience). I enjoyed the characterization and the world building, however I felt that the plot points were coming out of nowhere. It all coallesed in the end, but in the running up to it I couldn't stop myself from feeling like plot points were randomly being dropped to pursue something else. All in all though, it was an enjoyable read and I want to see how the sequel elaborates on this world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Violence, Gore, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Cannibalism
circlesarah's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.25
Wonderfully unique world building!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Violence