Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis

21 reviews

pineapplesurvivor's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Car accident, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

slimy's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? No

5.0

2007
Aliens
Snowden
Empathy
Who has a right to know the truth? 

This is such an intelligent, well-written book; surprisingly witty, charming in unexpected ways, accessible to someone who doesn’t read a lot of sci-fi. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Abandonment, Blood, Confinement, Death, Genocide, and Stalking

sugarpal's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

3.5 stars 

 

Reread to refresh my memory, because I won a giveaway for an arc of the second book, Truth of the Divine. 

 

Axiom’s End is Youtuber Lindsay Ellis’s debut novel. Set in 2007, the book explores what might have happened if the conspiracy theorists were right, and First Contact was real. Moreover, the public knows about it, thanks to the whistleblowing of the main character Cora’s father, Nils (basically the Julian Assange of this world). When she becomes the sole interpreter for one of the aliens, Cora gets wrapped up in the mess of alien politics and government secrecy, and as the secrets unravel and her relationship with the alien evolves, she finds herself caught between humanity and the otherworldly. 

 

I stand by my original review of 3.5 stars. For whatever reason, it took a long time for me to feel very connected to the characters, or invested in their relationships –– I only really started to like them towards the end. The writing was also unremarkable, not terrible, but not beautiful either. Still, I found this book very thought-provoking: I remember the first time I read it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it for a week, so Ellis must have done something right. I was especially interested in Ellis’s exploration of humanity’s [hypothetical] relationship with aliens, the inherent gap in understanding between alien species, and how that might make conflict inevitable. (I was less interested in the debate in the theater of public opinion led by Nils, over whether ‘Truth is a human right.’) 

 

I’m excited to see where Ellis takes the story in Truth of the Divine! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Gore, and Violence

valpuri's review

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Violence, Genocide, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Car accident, Death, Cursing, and Confinement

Minor: Torture and Suicide

stormwise's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

Extraterrestrial life is such a fascinating concept and I love media that explores the possibilities of alien cultures and how we would interact with them. With this in mind, it's no surprise that I enjoyed Ellis' debut novel, an alternate history first-contact tale that examines if it is possible for two alien cultures to truly coexist. 

I really enjoyed how the aliens were presented - I liked the main character's awareness of the human tendency to anthropomorphise. I also loved the discussion of linguistics within the text and found the way alien communication was portrayed very interesting.

Oh, and there's a scene where a human and an alien play cards together.<\spoiler>

I'll admit that the book took a little while to set itself up and the tone felt a bit "young adult" at the beginning, but once the action started it really picked up steam and I found myself completely absorbed. Overall I thought the writing was excellent and incredibly effective at conveying horror, tension and anxiety in certain scenes. 

I'm very excited for the sequel! I'd recommend this to any sci-fi fans who like aliens, government conspiracies, and mid-2000 pop culture references. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Gore, Kidnapping, Stalking, Vomit, and Torture

bencaroline's review

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Stalking, Suicide, and Torture

ohkmurr's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

3.0

 Snowden, but make it aliens. Overall, it's a good debut novel. The story was compelling and well-paced, and I appreciated all of those mid-2000s references. I don't necessarily love Ellis's writing style; it's generally not my favorite form of prose, but it's not bad. I'm sure first-contact fans will love it.

About halfway through the book I started thinking we were in for a monster-romance, "Shape of Water" story. At this point, my brain decided to fixate on the fact that the alien doesn't have a mouth and I spent the last two hundred pages trying to ignore that. (I realize romantic relationships don't have to be sexual, but that's just where my mind went.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Death, and Kidnapping

rachaelbunny's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Suicide, Xenophobia, Violence, and Toxic relationship

paolina's review

adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I found the beginning a little clunky, and was at times put off by this being clearly a set-up for a longer series, but really got into it by the end. Can't wait for the next one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Confinement

Moderate: Death and Violence

Minor: Suicide and Torture

quandtuniverse's review

adventurous emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Confinement

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Genocide and Torture

There is a fair amount of discussion on the topic of imperialism, colonialism, and assimilation, at one point naming the western invasion and genocide of north american indigenous peoples as a reason why the aliens are reluctant to communicate with humans.