Scan barcode
breathless's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Moderate: Physical abuse and Police brutality
Minor: Death, Incest, and Suicide
shugentobler's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement and Death
that_vnr's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Confinement and Incest
Minor: Death, Suicide, and Violence
bakatan's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Torture
Minor: Incest and Miscarriage
libellumartinae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
But gods! the whole architecture and meaning of this is utterly fabolous, alongside the knowledge that everything written is somehow already happened and you can see the echoes of it throughout the writing. An enchanting scifi reads.
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Blood, Grief, Dysphoria, War, Classism, and Deportation
mixigod's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Le Guin's world building is robust and you believe that this planet truly exists, down to it's politics, ideas of love and sex, and the importance of certain values in the absence of fixed genders. We follow Ai as he attempts to navigate an alien world and learn to involve himself within its culture. There are critiques that the book may have benefited from gender neutral pronouns and that there's an absence of truly female characters but I believe that ties into the point discovered by Ai that he assumes masculinity of those he encounters, being a human male.
That's all I'll spoil of it, it's an incredible read and deeply moving. Great for those who want to ponder beyond science fiction in it's essential sense and think of what it means to be an alien society and how that challenges our own conventional norms.
Graphic: Death and Forced institutionalization
gilnean's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Incest, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Cursing, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Excrement, Vomit, and Sexual harassment
kemrick19's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Incest, Slavery, Suicide, and Grief
angorarabbit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcohol
gender and orientation diversity is complicatedgardens_and_dragons's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
That being said, I found this to be extremely dry and boring during time where it should have felt tense. The pacing was slow, and that’s not something i usually enjoy in a book. I could not connect with the characters or enjoy their faults.
I also really did not like that it specifically envisioned a world where everyone is ambisexual AND then instead of being progressive about it, they also state that sibling incest is common and not forbidden. It had other potential issues that could have been called out with the Kenner system, but it was odd and felt … gross for no reason.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Incest and Suicide
Minor: Sexism and Pregnancy