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cleo_reads's review against another edition
4.25
I enjoyed it almost as much as the first. Even though it’s quite different - bigger scope, higher stakes, much more ambitious (and the first one was pretty dang ambitious).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: War, Vomit, and Xenophobia
Minor: Genocide
fedoratheexplora's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Racial slurs, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Medical content and Colonisation
ninjamuse's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation and Xenophobia
Moderate: War
krystaldelusion's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Medical content
nhollie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia, Colonisation, Body horror, Violence, Vomit, and Medical content
Minor: Genocide
keeper_of_dark_materials's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I don't know if I like the way that Martine glorifies conquest through Mahit. She describes the Devouring Maw of Teixcalaan as though it's something beautiful and mostly ignores the fact that this is an empire that has brutally colonized large parts of the galaxy.
There's a quick explanation of "well they haven't had a war of conquest in hundreds of years", but that doesn't really matter to me when alien xenophobia is very obviously, deeply entrenched in their society.
Also, sp**k is a real racial slur and either Martine didn't think to check, or knew and used it anyway (like, a disturbing amount of times).
Still, I can appreciate that the main cast we're mostly in agreement that they should open dialogue with the new species before they try and wipe them off the face of the galaxy, and it actually works.
Overall solid read and a good expansion on the first book, but I think the major subjects that it covers were not discussed deeply enough.
There's a quick explanation of "well they haven't had a war of conquest in hundreds of years", but that doesn't really matter to me when alien xenophobia is very obviously, deeply entrenched in their society.
Also, sp**k is a real racial slur and either Martine didn't think to check, or knew and used it anyway (like, a disturbing amount of times).
Still, I can appreciate that the main cast we're mostly in agreement that they should open dialogue with the new species before they try and wipe them off the face of the galaxy, and it actually works.
Overall solid read and a good expansion on the first book, but I think the major subjects that it covers were not discussed deeply enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Death
Moderate: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, and War
alexijai98's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Would be 5 stars but the ending slightly irked me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Genocide, Medical content, War, Colonisation, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Sexual content
quarkie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.25
As in the first book, a really interesting world and some thought-provoking takes on various concepts, but I was a bit distracted by what I thought to be less-than-stellar writing. I liked this one a bit more than the first one, but I think it was more due to the change in structure rather than a significant change in writing. Rather than the entire book told from a single point of view, this story was told from four distinct viewpoints. This helped avoid repetition of the same topic and thoughts that was present in the previous book, and also allowed readers to better follow the motivations of characters, since they had access to more internal monologues. It also allowed for readers to see characters' thought processes develop over the course of the book.
One thing I really enjoyed was the pacing - while the beginning was s bit slow, the second half had me on the edge of my seat, and made it difficult to put down!
One complaint I have, that is similar to the previous book, is that sometimes plot points "just happened". Meaning that they either seemingly had no lead up to them, or that they happened and didn't actually have an effect on the plot. It left readers hanging in a few cases.
The main topics that I took away from reading this were what the concept of "you" means to various societies, which was explored in the previous book and then expanded even further upon here. It was also an interesting look at how a society that is know for consuming cultures through colonization acts when confronted with a (SPOILER ALERT) society that will much more literally consume them. Finally, this book explored more concretely the ways in which people from these various cultures interact with one another, and how they can be actively doing harm when they are in fact well-intentioned.
One thing I really enjoyed was the pacing - while the beginning was s bit slow, the second half had me on the edge of my seat, and made it difficult to put down!
One complaint I have, that is similar to the previous book, is that sometimes plot points "just happened". Meaning that they either seemingly had no lead up to them, or that they happened and didn't actually have an effect on the plot. It left readers hanging in a few cases.
The main topics that I took away from reading this were what the concept of "you" means to various societies, which was explored in the previous book and then expanded even further upon here. It was also an interesting look at how a society that is know for consuming cultures through colonization acts when confronted with a (SPOILER ALERT) society that will much more literally consume them. Finally, this book explored more concretely the ways in which people from these various cultures interact with one another, and how they can be actively doing harm when they are in fact well-intentioned.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, War, Vomit, Murder, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Death, and Violence
Minor: Grief and Alcohol
murderousscottishgremlin's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
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? No
5.0
A brilliant conclusion to this duology. Martine’s writing is so lyrical and precise, and Mahit and Three Seagrass’ relationship is so well written. I loved how the narrative explores imperialism through memory, language, and personhood. Will probably be thinking about this for a long time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia and Body horror
michaelcattigan's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Genocide, Xenophobia, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Gore