Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis

9 reviews

bi_n_large's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Genocide, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Fatphobia and Racism

brnineworms's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

This is YA. That’s not a positive or negative judgement, just an observation. It wasn’t marketed as YA fiction as far as I recall but that is absolutely how it reads – a college-age protagonist who needs to learn a lesson or two about responsibility, an intermittently-relevant family, awkward romance, drama, angst, queer rep, etc. I enjoyed it but I can see I’m not the target audience.

Also,

I feel like a lot more could have been done with the fact that Ampersand’s knowledge of Earth culture was hundreds of years out of date. He could have spoken Middle English, for example. The point was that he thought humans were violent and backwards, owing to the fervent religious fundamentalism and purges he witnessed in the wake of the Black Death. But then that seems kind of unnecessary, because we’d already seen him horrified by humans eating meat – there was no need to invoke medieval atrocities when there are already aspects of modern life which he finds abhorrent.

This may seem nitpicky but it’s superfluous details like this that end up making the book at least a hundred pages longer than it needed to be. Thankfully, the quick pace prevented the story from feeling like a slog.

I’d recommend Axiom’s End to fans of Stephenie Meyer’s The Host. It has a similar vibe.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Suicide, Confinement, Self harm, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Death, Antisemitism, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Minor: Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Ableism, Car accident, Colonisation, Grief, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Slavery, Vomit, Murder, War, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury

mind control, not having control over one's own body

cfell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Gore, Suicide, Genocide, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexism and Torture

stormywolf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

 Audiobook Read by Abigail Thorn & Stephanie Willis
Unabridged Length: 16 Hours
Listened at 2.25x Speed

Read my full review at The Wolf's Den

Overall, I thought this audio successfully juggled the best of both worlds: utilizing two readers added some uniqueness to things, while the one-reader structure of Cora's story maintained familiarity. As some names and terms were unfamiliar (a common trait in sci-fi), the audio pronunciations were definitely appreciated. Though it took a little time for me to find the cadence, even at more than double speed there's still plenty of Cora's attitude coming through the narration. Seeing that the next book is adding a third reader into the mix, I'm excited to see how things progress and change, and not just in the story! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence, Abandonment, Car accident, Confinement, Suicide, Cursing, Genocide, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Excrement and Vomit

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

---

Content Warnings

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

avadore's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I want to be mad that this is secretly a transformers romance novel but I am charmed by it.

I haven't read a lot (or perhaps any?) first contact literature and was really interested to find out that it is a thing. Will always be extremely disappointed by how aliens are gendered in cis-centric human ways by these kinds of texts but otherwise this is a really fun adventure and I am pretty interested in what happens in the rest of the series! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Blood, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders

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. 

---

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

---

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

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

---

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.