Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin

17 reviews

jessthanthree's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Genocide, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Cannibalism

drips's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

a few tiny plot holes nagged at me but overall it's a beautiful heart wrenching conclusion to the trilogy. what a pleasure to raze through a series in a week again (and so much food for thought to boot! i'll probably read these again one day, maybe in paperback)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Cursing and Vomit

nodogsonthemoon's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Terminal illness, Violence, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

bodagirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Jemisin's world-building is a gradual puzzle, with pieces fed to you chapter by chapter from different points of view until the picture finally comes into focus. I started this trilogy a few years ago and finally got my hands on the last book. I tried just diving in, but found I needed to read some synopses in order to remember/understand what was going on in. In the earlier books, you knew that Jemisin's world had some issues with racism and colonialism, but in this final installment the puzzle is complete and you see exactly how the Stillness became so still.

Are Essun and Nassun the most loveable characters? No, but they are complicated characters and their journey is thought provoking just the same.

Some of my favorite quotes:

 "But breathing doesn't always mean living, and maybe... maybe genocide doesn't always leave bodies." 

 "But there are none so frightened, or so strange in their fears, as conquerors. They conjure phantoms endlessly, terrified that their victims will someday do back what was done to them - even if, in truth, their victims couldn't care less about such pettiness and have moved on. Conquerors live in dread of the day when they are shown to be, not superior, but simply lucky." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Colonisation, and War

rubybastille's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

These were challenging reads, both thematically and structurally, but well worth it. I did not expect such a satisfying ending. My heart broke so many times reading this and yet there were so many grains of hope scattered just where they were needed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Genocide, Racism, Self harm, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: War

fiveredhens's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

4.75

favorite serious quotes:

Hoa says to your slumped back, "I can't die."

You frown, jarred out of melancholy by this apparent non sequitur. Then you understand: He's saying you won't ever lose him. He will not crumble away like Alabaster. You can't ever be surprised by the pain of Hoa's loss the way you were with Corundum or Innon or Alabaster or Uche, or now Jija. You can't hurt Hoa in any way that matters. "It's safe to love you," you murmur, in startled realization.

"Yes."

She draws up her feet and wraps her arms around her knees, curiously vulnerable for someone whose presence within the strata is as deep and dense as a mountain. I reach up to touch her ankle, greatly daring, and she blinks and smiles at me, reaching down to cover my fingers with her hand. I will not understand my feelings for centuries afterward.

The onyx says, in its ponderous, wordless way:

Execute Y/N?

And in the cold stone silence, alone, Nassun chooses.

YES

"It might take some time."

"I don't think I'm very patient."

But you take my hand. Don't be patient. Don't ever be. This is the way a new world begins.

"Neither am I," I say. "So let's get to it."

It's almost like the old days, except that now Hoa appears as you walk, gets left behind as you keep walking, then appears again somewhere ahead of you. Most times he adopts a neutral posture, but occasionally he's doing something ridiculous, like the time you find him in a running pose.

Remwha crouches to run a hand along the wooden slats of the floor. I don't know why he does anything.

Asked Tinimony to take me into the hole today and she said no. What's in the hole, huh? What's in the hole.

complex mother-daughter relationships fraught with abuse and they have to

catch the moon

? sign me up

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

troisha's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Ableism, Child death, Drug use, Infertility, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, and Pregnancy