Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

27 reviews

ford_defect's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

The beginning of this book is pretty rough. There were multiple times I thought about dnf'ing it (especially since it is so long). The pacing really needs some work. The beginning is super slow, and the main characters were pretty unlikeable (except Hassa) up until about 200-300 pages in. I also thought the treatment the Ghostings got was unnecessary up until 80% of the way through. When it all clicked together, though, my mind was blown. But what really annoyed me was all the fatphobic descriptions of Anoor. They lessened over time, but it rubbed me the wrong way. That, and the author put a lot of emphasis on how much Anoor enjoys food, which is another fatphobic stereotype. Another thing was how Sylah's addiction was portrayed. Major spoilers ahead.

I was so proud of her when she quit her joba seed use (albeit, she only quit cuz Anoor forced her to) and kept it under control throughout almost the entire book. But then, the author has her take a joba seed, so she can defeat Jond in Anoor's place during the trial of combat. And what's even worse: once she sees a healer after having relapsed, the healer tells her to essentially microdose for the rest of her life! I would rather have Sylah find a way to work around her seizures and tremors. The Ghostings have no tongues and no hands and they have found ways to talk and take care of themselves, so why can't Sylah find a workaround for her drug-induced disability? Like you wouldn't tell an alcoholic to keep drinking to prevent the DTs. You have to cut it out completely or it can ruin your life again.

And I had really gotten into the book by that point, too.

But anyway, now I'll talk about what I really liked about the book. The blood magic system was super cool. At first, I wasn't sure how much I liked needing to draw runes to fire a gun (since that would be pretty inefficient if you were slow at writing). Though, the longer I thought about it, the more it grew on me. Bloodwerk requires skill and dexterity, so not everyone would be good at it, which is a good challenge for the MCs that didn't know how to bloodwerk before. Secondly, the atmosphere was quite unique and immersive. Especially since the author wrote about the history of the world, too. The character development was also well done (with the exception of what I said about a part of Sylah's progress). I initially hated Anoor and Sylah, but they evolved so much. I was a little disappointed we didn't see more romance between them.

I came into this book thinking it was gonna be a sapphic romance... but it was more focused on Jond and Sylah's romance. The romantic scenes are still well-written, though. For both pairings.

So 3/5
I would have rated it 4/5 since it got really good halfway through, but I just can't forgive the author for how she portrays Sylah's addiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Violence, Body horror, Self harm, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, Blood, Sexual content, Gore, Hate crime, Slavery, Addiction, Body shaming, Cultural appropriation, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Torture, and Alcohol

Minor: Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Racial slurs

ssjd411's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Body shaming, Classism, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Police brutality, Slavery, Violence, Racism, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

salemander's review against another edition

5.0

one of THE fantasy books ever made truly this shit is so goddamn incredible. the characters are so richly made, the commentary on addiction and the perils of empire, the action, the lesbians!!!!!! so fucking well done. can’t wait to read the next one 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racism, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Child abuse, Classism, Violence, and Drug abuse

porcupine_girl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Drug abuse, War, Addiction, Blood, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Genocide, Violence, Body horror, Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Slavery, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Medical content, Self harm, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Ableism, Blood, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Fire/Fire injury

sophiesmallhands's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Blood, Colonisation, Genocide, Classism, Death, Addiction, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Child death

Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Vomit, and War

Minor: Bullying

chroniquesdekellen's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Racism, Slavery, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Genocide, and Addiction

thethingwithfeathers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Slavery, Classism, Violence, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Addiction, and Drug use

Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent, Child death, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

panic_at_the_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

If you are looking for a fantasy book with plenty of amazing representation AND written by a black woman I highly recommend The Final Strife.

As soon as I finished the book I longed for the next one in the breathtaking The Ending Fire trilogy. The characters either made me love or hate them because of how human they felt. The hate did not come from finding it an annoying character. The characters were written out so well I despised them because of their horrible actions and/or beliefs. As if I was part of the story and ready to take them down. Each character had their strengths AND their flaws. 

This is not a typical female hero story. This is a story of pain, sadness and fighting a system filled with lies and dirty secrets to oppress the native people of the land. This is a story filled with fire, passion and dedication. It's filled with friendship and love. Most of all, it's filled with the courage one needs to stand up against a system of oppression. 

I do hope any person who is currently facing said oppression will find their well deserved freedom one day. May there be an ending fire to those who colonised and colonise. May we find the courage to stand up to any twisted system. 

Thank you, Saara, for refuelling my fire to raise my voice and find my inner Sylah, Hassa and Anoor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Addiction, Violence, Racism, Murder, Drug use, and Blood

Moderate: Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death

kylosten's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Xenophobia, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Slavery, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

ewinnk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Slavery, Death of parent, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Classism