Reviews tagging 'Death'

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

72 reviews

planetesastraea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

I read this book in two days (and only because I had to sleep)
I haven't felt this enthusiastic about a book in a long time. I came in basically only aware of the arranged-mariage trope and I got my ass kicked.

The writing is incredible. I have fallen in love with both Kiem and Jainan in different ways. The way their points of view alternate and each tell their own story blew me away. I've particularly admired the subtle build up that brings us to the story of Jainan's past. 

The world-building is amazing. I've always been shy to read "hard" sci-fi because, well, as Kiem would say I don't really have a brain for politics, but the author introduces us to the inner-workings of this society smoothly. 
Needless to say that on top of perfectly hitting both the space-opera and romance categories, this novel also includes a cleverly written investigation because apparently nothing can anything stop Everina Maxwell (I certainly won't)

I've been floored by this book, really. I'll be keeping both eyes open for anything Everina Maxwell will publish in the future, I'm hooked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Death

Minor: Body shaming

bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

emotional hopeful

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This romance-dominated science fiction type thing isn't really my genre, but Winter's Orbit was a very enjoyable read. I thought the book's approach to gender was absolutely fascinating. Each culture (or at least each planet) in this book has its own system for communicating gender to outsiders, whether that's through hairstyles or accessories or something else. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the idea that gender could be that easy in a futuristic sci-fi setting, and I couldn't help but wonder how things would work if someone used multiple pronoun sets or neopronouns or pronouns that weren't traditionally associated with their gender. I guess people could wear multiple types of ornaments? But I do think that the extremely gender-neutral societies depicted in this book are very freeing in a lot of ways. 

There is a main plot in this book, but we spend most of our time with the main characters and their budding romance. I liked both main characters a lot. Kiem's friendliness and enthusiasm matched well with Jainan's introversion and repression. I definitely rooted for them to get past their problems and grow and be happy together.

I really appreciated the sensitivity with which this book approached domestic abuse, and Jainan's character arc was hard to read at times but ultimately cathartic.

There's just SO MUCH miscommunication. I don't like unnecessary miscommunication even in small doses, and it felt like about 40% of this book was just the two characters failing to talk to each other about very basic things. Some of it made sense for the characters—especially Jainan—but most of it was just frustrating. The two characters were barely ever on the same page, and that lessened my enjoyment of the book pretty considerably.

I would still definitely recommend Winter's Orbit to any fans of arranged marriage plots, sci-fi romance, or interesting gender systems, but it's not necessarily a book that's going to stick with me in a very meaningful way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Torture, Physical abuse, Death, Kidnapping, and Violence

Additional content warning for spacecraft accidents.

ruthiedr89's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, and Gaslighting

Minor: Colonisation, Confinement, and Kidnapping

eamily's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, and Car accident

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, War, Violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity

gensyndulla_02's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death

spacebornfew's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gaslighting and Torture

orchidd's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Physical abuse

Minor: War, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Confinement

paperbrownies'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

- lgbtqiap+, adult, sff, sci-fi, space stuff, dual pov, political intrigue, arrange marriage, royalty, slow burn romance, the yearning *chef's kiss*
- m|m
- bi mc, queer mc, and other queer characters (nonbinary rep)

“jainan,” he said into his fingers. he pulled his hands down until his dark agonized eyes met jainan’s. “you’re beautiful.”

"i might be easy to manipulate. but i am very difficult to break.” 

this beautiful beautiful book
i loved everything about this book and i can promise you that there will come a day when i'll write an essay on how precious kiem and jainan are. there is not much i can say about the book without giving it all away *inserts synopsis* bc the premise is pretty straightforward which is why i'll jot down in points why i enjoyed this book:
• the setting was beautiful!! it was very wintery and i loved it!!
• the gender system which is so fucking cool??!!! 
• i have a soft spot for books that involve royalty so it's really not a surprise that i devoured every bit of this story
• involves a disaster bi with the energy of a golden retriever
• involves a romance that takes its time to get to know each other and evolve
• kiem and jainan show us what it means to be in love, understand and care for each other!!
• the yearning? 10/ 10 highly recommend

tw: physical and domestic abuse, off page character death, toxic relationship

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death

astropova's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual violence and Death

alyshkalia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Colonisation, Death, and Grief