Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

26 reviews

fern_gulley's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Cannibalism and Mental illness

horizonous's review

adventurous dark tense

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gore, Murder, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cannibalism and Panic attacks/disorders

◦ Death = Family member

booksthatburn's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

TRAIL OF LIGHTING is a bright light in my reading life, a book with urban fantasy feels but nary a city in sight. Maggie is conflicted and messy, with a supernatural ability to bring death (helped by her gun and very large knife) and not much help reconciling that with the rest of herself. 

It's about legacies of trauma and the nature of monstrosity, as Maggie grapples with her understanding of herself. Is she a person who kills monsters? Or a monster who's trying to take other monsters down with her/ Part of this is shown early on when she deliberately withholds her expected part of a culturally important greeting, not wanting to show this part of herself to people she is technically in community with. She feels alienated from them by her deeds. Complicating this is the fact that she's useful to them for the very thing that makes them feel uncomfortable around her, i.e. her talent for death which she uses for monster hunting and retribution.

I love the worldbuilding and setting, blending real climate change fears with Indigenous (specifically Diné) mythology to create a new world from the remains of our own. Some things are directly explained, especially if they relate to her personal history or the particular quirks of this particular dystopian existence, but a lot of specific definitions are left to context clues. 

I enjoyed this portrayal of Coyote, Maggie's interactions with him are interestingly tense. I like Kai, he seems like a good counterbalance for Maggie. My few complaints about him have excellent in-story justifications which come together in the end and turn them from annoying to appropriately mysteriously and foreshadow-y. 

The big reveal is excellent, I'm very pleased by that part of the ending. This was great and I'm excited for the next one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, Cannibalism, Murder, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Ableism

siannas_second_library's review

adventurous challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Police brutality

Moderate: Abandonment and Cannibalism

redus_reuse_recycle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Police brutality, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Death of parent, Cannibalism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual assault

griffinthief's review

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, and Violence

sgcxb's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Violence, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Body horror

Minor: Sexual assault

cerilouisereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Zombie-like creatures

thewildmageslibrary's review

dark

3.5

This book was a bit darker than I usually read but I liked it! The story is set in a post-apocalyptic North America where monsters roam alongside gods and humans. Maggie was a tough heroine and I understood how she got to that point, but my heart hurt for her.

Please note that some own-voices reviewers have talked about issues with the depictions of Navajo culture and mythology by the author, who is not Navajo.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Cannibalism and Toxic relationship

amandaquotidianbooks's review

adventurous dark 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

5.0

I loved the development of Maggie and Kai’s relationship. The exploration of how Maggie’s trauma affects her was really well done. The post-apocalyptic world was realistically and subtly drawn. I also enjoyed learning about the mythos and magic system. Even though it was really dark, it was a fun, fast read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Cannibalism