Reviews with content warning for Death - Winter’s Orbit

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

72 reviews

amsswim's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious 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

4.5

Thank you, Jen, for the recommendation. I love science fiction, and romance for me is a treat when done the way I like. I'm very picky on romance I read because I really don't love all romance tropes, but this one has some of my favorites. It's about the yearning, we must focus! Combining the perfected use of the romance tropes with a new sci-fi background I really loved. The overall story was interesting and kept me coming back as well. I saw a review saying the romance was a background to the sci-fi plot, but I felt the opposite that the sci-fi was a different setting for romance plot points used before, but maybe that just depends on how much you read each of those genres.

Either way if you're looking for a sweet, lgbt, sci-fi romance, this is it!

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frantic_vampire's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense 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

This was such a good book! I don’t really have the words for all the feelings that this book gave me. It was comforting, it was adventurous, it was political, and so many other things. I just loved this so, so much.

I loved the dynamic between Kiem and Jainan once they got past all the awkward miscommunications (and lack of communication). I loved that Kiem was so bubbly and talked with literally everyone, and that Jainan was almost the complete opposite. I loved all the political drama, the murder mystery, and everything else that this had going for it! Somehow this world felt familiar and yet not at all, if that makes sense. Winter’s Orbit was just so good and I’m giving it five stars.

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kanonkita's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

The romance plot of the book was some sweet hurt/comfort. I felt that the leads had good chemistry with each other and their relationship had satisfying pacing. The only thing I'd change is that I would have liked a little more complexity in the world building and political situations. There were a lot of times where the ways that things just sort of shook out in the characters' favor because very important people with a lot of responsibility just trusted them without question took me out of the immersion of the story. That's not really the point of the book though, so if you can shut that part of your brain off, you'll probably have a great read.

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natcat's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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

An absolutel delight, I enjoyed this so much! I first read the AO3 version of this story several years ago, and enjoyed it a lot then, and it's fascinating to read this now and see what has changed. I loved Kiem and Jainan and their relationship so much, and all the secondary characters were great (and the bad guys suitably terrible!). This book's whole-hearted embrace of tropes from Only One Tent to Painful Miscommunication For Understandable Reasons to Rescue Mission Where One Party Doesn' Think They Will Be Rescued was so good, and I both immensely enjoyed and was very emotionally moved by the story - listening to this as an audiobook there were multiple times where I had to stop washing the dishes or whatever other task I was doing to lie down and fully experience all the emotions!

I enjoyed a lot of the worldbuilding hut was a little less convinced by the big picture Resolution plot; the timescale and the story scale on it didn't really work for me, and I think I would have preferred it if the story had stuck to the Iskat/Thea politics, rather than the big galactic politics. But I did really like all the details about Iskat, particularly the running joke that all Iskat fauna is terrifying and murderous.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was great, his voices for the characters were very consistent, and his tone and diction were excellent.

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stinkologist's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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exhumedprince's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

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bluejayreads's review against another edition

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emotional

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

Sometimes you get in the mood to read something absolutely emotionally devastating. The kind of book that will tear out your heart and crush it and leave you sobbing and grateful to have read it. And if you ever get into that mood, have I got a book for you!

Winter’s Orbit will crush you in the best way. There were a few points where my chest physically hurt from the beautifully devastating feelings (or it could have been because my new medication was entirely fucking me over – but I choose to attribute it to the book). It’s an arranged-marriage mutual-pining romance between two scared and hurting and uncertain young royals against the backdrop of empire-ending scifi politics. It’s wonderful and it hurts so much.

I loved Kiem. He was kind as an integral part of his existence, oblivious to anything that didn’t fit his experience until explicitly told (at which point he felt bad for not noticing), and very much trying his best. He knew how to handle his own life as a prince, for the most part, but had absolutely zero idea of how to handle being married. He was sweet and self-deprecating and I loved him.

And, unusual for a book with dual narrators, I loved Jainan just as much. He was uncertain, terrified, and absolutely dedicated to duty even when it involved excessive and painful self-sacrifice, and he had no idea how to deal with a partner as genuinely kind as Kiem. I called the dynamic between him and his first partner immediately (considering I have personal experience with it, it seemed obvious to be, but I can see how often oblivious and never-thinks-bad-of-people Kiem would miss it), and I was very pleased to see how everything worked out in this second marriage. I adored Kiem because he was sweet and fun, but I adored Jainan because he was hurt and broken and I wanted to see him heal and be happy.

The world itself was well sketched. It was done well enough that there were a few nice moments of culture clash, and I really enjoyed how Kiem’s and Jainan’s two cultures used clothing indicators like jewelry (Kiem’s people) and scarf knots (Jainan’s people) to indicate gender, rather than anything inherent in the physical body. There were definitely interesting parts, and it was detailed enough to support the story, but it took a back seat to the romance.

In fact, everything took a back seat to the romance. That includes the plot, which includes desperate politics to get an important treaty signed before the deadline, murder and assassination, and a far-reaching conspiracy with plans to destroy the empire. It’s enough to make an entire book on its own, and yet it fades into the background behind the two protagonists and their pining, uncertain, tentative, adorably awkward relationship. And even though I usually prefer plot and roll my eyes at romance, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I’m still not fully clear on what was really so difficult about getting the treaty signed in the first place, which made the foundation of everything that happens feel very flimsy. But it was a solid book and a stellar romance. The plot was good, the characters were great, the emotions were intense and devastating in the best possible way. On the whole, it’s very good.

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