Reviews

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

lucasbrooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Slow start, but enjoyed the wider scope than the first book - could really feel the swath and weight of the empire. Climax may have ended a little too quickly for my tastes

stephanieridiculous's review against another edition

3.0

I'm not entirely sure about a star rating. I'm hovering somewhere in the 3 to 4 range.

The pros:
-Great characters, specifically Swarm
-Engaging writing style in general
-Fascinating aliens

The cons:
-A lot of repetition. Gripes between characters kept getting rehashed repeatedly, concepts kept getting explained, just lots of hand holding that wasn't necessary
-Our two main characters didn't really do much? I'm not entirely sure how exactly they contributed to the overall plot. They mostly just existed and things happened around them, and there is A LOT of convenient timing, and a very simple resolution needlessly wrapped up in "complex" political machinations
-There wasn't a lot of suspense, or rather the things the suspense was built off of someone else always already knew - including us, the reader. 
-Tonal shifts that were not telegraphed or expected. Both within the duology and within this installment. In book 2 we get both graphic sex (that is needlessly referred back to constantly) and body horror. Neither of these things are bad necessarily (although I don't really care for either), but they were so abrupt to me, and so different from the tone of book 1, that it jolted me out of the narrative repeatedly. 

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). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: War, Vomit, and Xenophobia

Minor: Genocide

robum's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

shiftycourtney's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

4.0

gdenav's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

3.5

ginte's review against another edition

reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

yearning sapphics in space trying to establish contact with aliens for a ceasefire 

pagesofash's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

4.0

cc2's review against another edition

adventurous reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

bina's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0