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alayamorning's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, and Child abuse
Moderate: Torture, Vomit, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Slavery, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Pregnancy
kbusemeyer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
This book started out slow and I didn’t think I was going to get into it at first, but I ended up really enjoying it.
Maybe I’m just slow, but it took me quite a while to figure out that it was just the POVs of all the different stages of Damaya/Syenite/Essun’s life, and I really didn’t get it until Damaya tells Schaffa her rogga name.
Jemisin did a very good job of weaving the story together and building up the lore. There were parts I found hard to follow or pick up about what was actually meant, but overall the concepts that were implied were well done in being horrifying without having to give detail.
Alabaster was a great character and I enjoyed reading about his abilities and his interactions with Syenite and seeing her change. Meov and Allia were some of my favorite parts to read.
Maybe I’m just slow, but it took me quite a while to figure out
Jemisin did a very good job of weaving the story together and building up the lore. There were parts I found hard to follow or pick up about what was actually meant, but overall the concepts that were implied were well done in being horrifying without having to give detail.
Alabaster was a great character and I enjoyed reading about his abilities and his interactions with Syenite and seeing her change. Meov and Allia were some of my favorite parts to read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore and Sexual content
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
cloclara's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
Uau
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Slavery, Torture, and Xenophobia
morganphoenix's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Xenophobia, Violence, Rape, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Sexual content
lauconn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Blood, Cannibalism, Torture, Vomit, and Pregnancy
bluejayreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
- 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
A man and a living statue tear open the ground and end the world. A geode cracks open and a child emerges. A mother comes home to find her toddler son beaten to death. And three different storylines converge into a single intense, dark, tangled, brilliant story.
It's so hard to pick out any of the elements of this story and talk about them individually because everything in this book is interconnected. People, environment, tradition, those in power, those without, cities, rural villages, deadly natural disasters, all influence and are influenced by each other.
The worldbuilding is phenomenal. Society and people and everything are shaped by the fact of living on an inhospitible planet, where "Father Earth" periodically sends "seasons" of disasters in an attempt to wipe out all life. Time is counted in how many seasons a place has survived. And everyone hates and fears the people who have power to control the earth, to soothe it - or kindle its fury - at their whim.
There are three storylines in this book. Demaya is a child with this power to control earth, and when her family discovers it they despise her and are all too happy to give her away to the Fulcrum, where people like her are trained for the good of the Stillness. Seyenite has been trained, abused, and molded by the Fulcrum into a weapon, but a simple mission supervised by the strange and extraordinarily powerful Alabaster starts to unravel everything she thought she knew. And Essun lived a relatively happy life in a small village with her husband and two children, until her husband murders her son and kidnaps her daughter and she sets out to find them.
Unlike most books that have multiple storylines, I enjoyed every single one of these plots and sets of characters. This book did so many things right. From intense experiences being accurate without being overwhelming or feeling cheap on the page, to the complicated feelings of a child being told the person hurting her is doing it for her own good, to sex scenes that not only didn't make me uncomfortable but that I actually enjoyed, this book is stunning.
Everything in this story is connected. Every. single. thing. The Fifth Season is not only following this varied cast of characters through their adventures, it's peeling back layers of the society - to the characters and to the reader - and exposing the horrors within, and providing threads of mystery that it deftly weaves into a fascinating, astonishing tapestry. Even up to the very last word of the book (literally), threads are still being woven into the bigger picture. And though you technically could stop the journey here and not read the rest of the series, why would you want to?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Body horror
rae_bookmarkchronicles's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This rating is not at the fault of the book at all. This was my first time reading high fantasy so I didn't really know what to expect and I think some of the elements were a little confusing.
The beginning was slow for me but of course, we needed world building. The 2nd person narration for Essun's POV didn't deter me at all, but that could just be because I knew it was coming.
I didn't always feel connected to the characters but I adored Damaya and especially felt for her when Schaffa broke her hand but was like "I did it because I love you" UGH
And for some reason I just really love Hoa...idk
So the POVs. I figured that they would all converge at some point. I picked up on the time jumps but didn't realize that it was all the same person at different parts of her life until Damaya chose the name Syenite..
One thing that I really hate - and yes I know why it's needed - was the forced motherhood aspect and the way they go about it
Loved that this included trans rep, polyamory, and a discussion of systematic oppression and manipulation
Some of my unanswered questions are - why did Alabaster start the season? ( I mean I have an idea but still) - where the heck are Jija and Nassun? - and why has Hoa been following her for 10 years?
The beginning was slow for me but of course, we needed world building. The 2nd person narration for Essun's POV didn't deter me at all, but that could just be because I knew it was coming.
I didn't always feel connected to the characters but I adored Damaya and especially felt for her when Schaffa broke her hand but was like "I did it because I love you" UGH
And for some reason I just really love Hoa...idk
So the POVs. I figured that they would all converge at some point. I picked up on the time jumps but didn't realize that it was all the same person at different parts of her life until Damaya chose the name Syenite..
One thing that I really hate - and yes I know why it's needed - was the forced motherhood aspect and the way they go about it
Loved that this included trans rep, polyamory, and a discussion of systematic oppression and manipulation
Some of my unanswered questions are - why did Alabaster start the season? ( I mean I have an idea but still) - where the heck are Jija and Nassun? - and why has Hoa been following her for 10 years?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
henriettta's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Minor: Kidnapping
whatisjessreading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
tqlikesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
“When we say 'the world has ended,' it’s usually a lie, because the planet is just fine. But this is the way the world ends.
This is the way the world ends.
This is the way the world ends.
For the last time.”
Compelling characters and stunning worldbuilding wrapped up in a package of immersive storytelling- Jemisin has crafted a unique, brilliant and horrifying world with an amazing set of characters, whose stories are brimming with emotion.
Truly one of the most clever, engaging and well-written fantasy stories I have read in a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Child abuse, Murder, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Genocide and Slavery