Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Piąta Pora Roku

What a… strange book.

This book feels very disjointed. We’re following 3 POVs: a mother looking for her child, a kid learning to control her powers, and a woman just doing her job. These 3 POVs have completely separate storylines throughout the first 70% of the book (only then do they start connecting), so it felt like I was reading 3 different stories that simply happened to take place in the same world.

Additionally, the goal of this book wasn’t clear *AT ALL*. If I’m being honest, even the goal of each of these singular storylines didn’t seem that grand, either. So it kind of felt like we were meandering with no clear intention. I just kept wondering: What is the goal of this story? What is the point of this book? What is this story even about?

And, I hate to say it, but even after finishing the book, I genuinely couldn’t answer those questions. 😐 I can’t even summarize the plot of this book because….. what even *is* the plot? 3 people just go through some months/years of their life? They each have challenges. Things are happening. There’s danger around them. But this book *doesn’t have a plot*.

You might notice, however, that I still gave it a solid 4 stars, and that is because I genuinely enjoyed this book. 😅 I did have some gripes with it (I’ll get there), but, overall, the story was still really engaging! I read this in less than 3 days, and was in it the whole way through. Granted, the lack of goal or overall narrative weakened my enjoyment a bit, but I still had fun going through these characters’ lives, and learning about this world. Also, the 2nd person POV didn’t bother me at all, even though I’m not used to it. It wasn’t even distracting, to me!

I think one factor that really heightened my enjoyment was the audiobook. This is the 2nd book I’ve listened to – I usually can’t focus enough for audiobooks lol –, but this was a pleasant surprise! I never thought I’d be able to just *listen* to an adult high fantasy, but something about this story just worked for me on audio! And I reeeeally enjoyed the narrator! She managed to do different voices, accents and intonations for different characters, which made it very easy to understand who was speaking. Her emotions were also on point, when such were needed. None of it felt exaggerated or cartoonish. As someone who just *can’t* do audiobooks, I’d really recommend this one!

The weaker parts of this book (other than the general fact that there was barely even a plot of story arch) were related to the characters. I personally never fully cared about any of them, if I’m being completely honest. 😬 Alabaster, Tonkee and Hoa were alright companions, but I honestly wouldn’t feel much if they died. I probably wouldn’t feel anything if the MCs died, either lol. 💀 For some reason, I just never fully connected with them.

The one aspect of this book I actually *really* disliked was the romance. It is literally just insta-lust. We barely know this LI – we are just told he’s charming and attractive the moment he appears on page, and the characters immediately want to fuck him. Then there’s a 2-year time jump, and they’ve just…… been together for that time, I guess? And apparently love each other a lot? There was literally no development, the LI was basically a stranger to us, and the “romance” never seemed to go far past the instant horniness of the characters. Perhaps they actually found *real* reasons to ~fall in love~ (off-page), but WE didn’t see any of that, so…. 🤷🏻 Thankfully, the romance didn’t take up much of the story, but still. I wonder WHY the author chose to put such a poorly done romance in a story that would’ve been fine otherwise. If she reeeally wanted to include this romance, the least she could’ve done was develop it. 😬

So, overall, while I don’t think this book is for everyone, I feel like it is still quite enjoyable and unique. Also, *I* wouldn’t think this book is for *ME* (based on the fact that there isn’t really an objective to this story), but I still liked it, so… perhaps give it a try, regardless :p

Content Warnings

buttercat42's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

emily_journals's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this book. I loved the characters, I loved the writing, I loved the unique storytelling; I can't really think of anything about this book that I didn't love. This book is told from 3 (kind of 4) different storylines that center on different characters. There are 3 mains storylines being rotated out for most of the book, but the prologue, interludes, and some of the last chapter are all told from a different perspective. The characters in this book are so complex and so uniquely developed and all of the characters in each of the different storylines are all equally developed and interesting. I think the writing of this book is really what stands out the most to me. The way this book is written with the 3 different storylines alongside the omniscient narrator giving hints and clues with the prologue and interludes is so brilliantly done and I've never read another book that does storytelling in this same way before. This book also just has such a cool premise that I personally am so intrigued by, but you don't really learn the premise of the world until the very ending of the book (although it is hinted at earlier) which I think is such a good way to do world building. I very highly recommend this book, but definitely be sure to check trigger warnings for this one because there's a lot of trauma/grief happening in this world.

Content Warnings

dragon_s_hoard's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Content Warnings

biobeetle's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

Content Warnings

hazeln00t's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional 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

This book rules and I can’t wait to re-read it. Throughout the book there’s passing observations that feel inconsequential and human, but no remark or reflection is accidental. Jemisin is a fantastic world builder and the ending snowballed so fast to a jaw dropping tease for the next book. All of her characters are also deeply emotionally intelligent. That’s not exactly realistic maybe for people in real life, but it makes for damn good fiction.

Content Warnings

bergha1998's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark 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? No

4.25

Wow this book is genius, and we’ll written too. I’m mind blown and so excited to see where the series goes. Loved the complexities of the MCs. Overall, it was super well done and so interesting.

Multi POV, Excellent World Building, 1 🔥

“But then, how can they? Who misses what they have never, ever even imagined? That would not be human nature. How fortunate, then, that there are more people in this world than just humankind.”

“He refuses to allow her any of the polite fictions and unspoken truths that have kept her comfortable, and safe, for years.”

Content Warnings

cherub__'s review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

4.25

This was a fantastically enjoyable read, and the world building has the potential to be top-notch! The second-person POV is an interesting technique and comes with many dangers, but for the most part Jemisin handles it with ease. The in-world politics have the potential to be fascinating, but for now (hopefully!) the intrigue is left to hints and passing mentions. I'm very hopeful this book is the first in a truly excellent series!

Content Warnings

More...