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thereadingskeleton's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
Rep: Black MC (plus many other BIPOC characters), nonbinary characters (of an alien race with different gender than humans, use xe/xyr pronouns)
Comprised of three interwoven stories and told in a nonlinear fashion, Destroyer of Light takes place on the planet Eleusis, where the remains of humanity relocated after alien conquerors destroyed Earth. The three stories build and tangle, rushing toward a confrontation that threatens to not only upend the precarious balance of Eleusian society but also destroy the planet entirely.
It’s difficult to talk too much about the plot of Destroyer of Light without potential spoilers. In my opinion, many of the plot points that a discussion would reveal are fairly easy to predict, but I don’t want to ruin anyone’s reading experience. I’ll just say that, although a lot of this book was difficult for me to read (please see the CWs), there were many things I loved. I enjoyed finding all the little nods to Greek mythology and the story of Persephone, and I found the exploration of colonization and trauma compelling.
Overall, I recommend this if you are a fan of science fiction and Greek mythology and want a book that will make you think.
Comprised of three interwoven stories and told in a nonlinear fashion, Destroyer of Light takes place on the planet Eleusis, where the remains of humanity relocated after alien conquerors destroyed Earth. The three stories build and tangle, rushing toward a confrontation that threatens to not only upend the precarious balance of Eleusian society but also destroy the planet entirely.
It’s difficult to talk too much about the plot of Destroyer of Light without potential spoilers. In my opinion, many of the plot points that a discussion would reveal are fairly easy to predict, but I don’t want to ruin anyone’s reading experience. I’ll just say that, although a lot of this book was difficult for me to read (please see the CWs), there were many things I loved. I enjoyed finding all the little nods to Greek mythology and the story of Persephone, and I found the exploration of colonization and trauma compelling.
Overall, I recommend this if you are a fan of science fiction and Greek mythology and want a book that will make you think.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
ariel_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Destroyer of Light is a beautifully written sci-fi that has themes of family, colonization, war, and trauma.
It's important to note that there are graphic scenes of sexual violence, as well as blood, violence, death, and kidnapping. Please, take care when reading.
With such heavy material, I felt like reading this book was a powerful experience, and I loved seeing the growth and character arc of our main characters. There are several time skips throughout the book but I found myself following the timeline with ease and the time skips felt cohesive to the narrative.
Destroyer of Light subtly draws from the Persephone myth, themes like the trauma of being ripped from a familiar home and a mother's grief at losing her child and finding new meaning in life, and I really appreciated this framework of the story itself.
The feeling overall in this book for me was surreal as I grappled with the new world and the existence of the alien race that lived alongside the human race, and I felt like I had a steep learning curve of figuring out how this world operated. However, once the pieces snapped into place I found myself highly engaged throughout.
I highly recommend to sci fi readers who are interested in a fast paced narrative that ties in narratives of colonization and war on an interpersonal and intergenerational level. Again, proceed with caution as the topics are quite heavy in many instances throughout. However, each of these scenes come with context that ensures the material is not gratuitous in any way.
A big thank you to B2Weird for hosting this book tour!
It's important to note that there are graphic scenes of sexual violence, as well as blood, violence, death, and kidnapping. Please, take care when reading.
With such heavy material, I felt like reading this book was a powerful experience, and I loved seeing the growth and character arc of our main characters. There are several time skips throughout the book but I found myself following the timeline with ease and the time skips felt cohesive to the narrative.
Destroyer of Light subtly draws from the Persephone myth, themes like the trauma of being ripped from a familiar home and a mother's grief at losing her child and finding new meaning in life, and I really appreciated this framework of the story itself.
The feeling overall in this book for me was surreal as I grappled with the new world and the existence of the alien race that lived alongside the human race, and I felt like I had a steep learning curve of figuring out how this world operated. However, once the pieces snapped into place I found myself highly engaged throughout.
I highly recommend to sci fi readers who are interested in a fast paced narrative that ties in narratives of colonization and war on an interpersonal and intergenerational level. Again, proceed with caution as the topics are quite heavy in many instances throughout. However, each of these scenes come with context that ensures the material is not gratuitous in any way.
A big thank you to B2Weird for hosting this book tour!
mswocreader's review against another edition
3.0
This story was confusing at times because it jumped so many different timelines. It could go from 1 month ago to 1 year ago to 3 weeks ago between chapters. And this book was a lot more violent than I anticipated. There were multiple child rape scenes and some very brutal killings. It is described as a Persephone retelling and admittedly I went in knowing nothing of their story. Which had I known I would've picked up on some things faster. Having done some brief research I can now see where many of the parallels are.
There's an alien race called krestge who invaded Earth and the remaining inhabitants of Earth fled to the planet of Eleusis. A woman named Deidra has her daughter, Cora kidnapped from her by the rebel army. The rebel army is kidnapping children and turning them into soldiers, sex trafficking them, and killing them. Dr. Aidoneus Okoni, the ruler of this army, plans to use Cora’s unique powers to shift into another dimension.
It follows a few different characters which include a set of twins investing the kidnapping of a missing child into a sex trafficking ring. I didn't really care about the twins and they weren't as heavily featured as Cora who despite all the sexual violence had a compelling story.
I thought the author did something very different than many authors are doing with their retellings of Persephone. Don't come into this book expecting a Hades and Persephone romance because you'll be greatly disappointed. The audiobook had great narrators who really brought this story to life and kept me reading.
I received an arc from Tor Books in exchange for an honest review.
There's an alien race called krestge who invaded Earth and the remaining inhabitants of Earth fled to the planet of Eleusis. A woman named Deidra has her daughter, Cora kidnapped from her by the rebel army. The rebel army is kidnapping children and turning them into soldiers, sex trafficking them, and killing them. Dr. Aidoneus Okoni, the ruler of this army, plans to use Cora’s unique powers to shift into another dimension.
It follows a few different characters which include a set of twins investing the kidnapping of a missing child into a sex trafficking ring. I didn't really care about the twins and they weren't as heavily featured as Cora who despite all the sexual violence had a compelling story.
I thought the author did something very different than many authors are doing with their retellings of Persephone. Don't come into this book expecting a Hades and Persephone romance because you'll be greatly disappointed. The audiobook had great narrators who really brought this story to life and kept me reading.
I received an arc from Tor Books in exchange for an honest review.
senkahawke's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.0
naiadtales's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
This was a very different retelling of the Persephone myth than I'm used to and outside of the more gruesome parts of the novel, I really enjoyed it. Would love to know more about why humans had to leave Earth and was told to check out Elysium so I'm gonna do that.
rorikae's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-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
4.25
'Destroyer of Light' by Jennifer Marie Brissett is an engaging science fiction story that utilizes three different plots to explore a world where the Earth has been destroyed.
The story weaves between three different stories: one which follows a young girl kidnapped from her family and her home, the second tells of an adult woman with special powers who is trying to rise beyond her relationship with a warlord, and the third follows twin brothers searching for a missing young boy.
Brissett weaves together these three tales to explore a future where Earth has been destroyed and humanity now lives on a planet with the aliens that formerly conquered them. Through the three shifting stories, we are given a glimpse at different aspects of the world and how they all connect to one another. This slowly expands the world through the realities of the main characters as we also come to care about them as individuals. As the stories progress, they begin to connect more and more to each other until the full scope of the overarching plot is realized.
Despite the relatively short nature of the book, it is clear that Brissett has fully fleshed out the world behind it. I would love to read more in this world, even if it with completely new characters or takes place on a different planet.
The story weaves between three different stories: one which follows a young girl kidnapped from her family and her home, the second tells of an adult woman with special powers who is trying to rise beyond her relationship with a warlord, and the third follows twin brothers searching for a missing young boy.
Brissett weaves together these three tales to explore a future where Earth has been destroyed and humanity now lives on a planet with the aliens that formerly conquered them. Through the three shifting stories, we are given a glimpse at different aspects of the world and how they all connect to one another. This slowly expands the world through the realities of the main characters as we also come to care about them as individuals. As the stories progress, they begin to connect more and more to each other until the full scope of the overarching plot is realized.
Despite the relatively short nature of the book, it is clear that Brissett has fully fleshed out the world behind it. I would love to read more in this world, even if it with completely new characters or takes place on a different planet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
horrorandscience's review against another edition
3.0
Cora and her mother live on Eleusis--a planet that was supposed to be their rescue after the downfall of Earth by the hands of the alien race the krestge. Unfortunately, Earth principals have continued on Eleusis, with the haves living in Dusk, and the have-nots living in Dawn. And beyond Dawn is Night, a city filled with crime and even a child army lead by the leader Aidoneus Okoni.
The timeline flips back and forth between 10 years ago and close to today, while also flipping between another storyline following twins Jown and Pietyr as they look for a missing boy from Dusk. The timelines and storylines that mix and intermingle are very confusing at first, but make a bit more sense towards the end. I feel that Brissett could have included a lot of the ending details in the beginning to make things make more sense, since a lot of the details weren't spoilers or twists in any way. I spent 80% of the book completely confused until she fully explained some details at the end.
This is not a bad book by any means, but I had a very hard time staying connected between characters, storylines, timelines, and trying to keep everyone together. It is also a VERY hard book to read emotionally. CW for child abuse, explicit child rape, and a child army.
I do want to see what else Brissett releases in the future. I was very intrigued by this premise, but felt like my confusion was holding me back from enjoying the book to its fullest extent.
Thank you to Net Galley, Tor Books, and Jennifer Marie Brissett for the chance to read this advanced review copy!
The timeline flips back and forth between 10 years ago and close to today, while also flipping between another storyline following twins Jown and Pietyr as they look for a missing boy from Dusk. The timelines and storylines that mix and intermingle are very confusing at first, but make a bit more sense towards the end. I feel that Brissett could have included a lot of the ending details in the beginning to make things make more sense, since a lot of the details weren't spoilers or twists in any way. I spent 80% of the book completely confused until she fully explained some details at the end.
This is not a bad book by any means, but I had a very hard time staying connected between characters, storylines, timelines, and trying to keep everyone together. It is also a VERY hard book to read emotionally. CW for child abuse, explicit child rape, and a child army.
I do want to see what else Brissett releases in the future. I was very intrigued by this premise, but felt like my confusion was holding me back from enjoying the book to its fullest extent.
Thank you to Net Galley, Tor Books, and Jennifer Marie Brissett for the chance to read this advanced review copy!
jesm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
"Destroyer of Light" by Jennifer Marie Brissett follows several interwoven timelines, in a world where humans were forced to flee from Earth.
There was some super interesting world building in this one and the way the author created alien species was really fascinating. I really liked how Brissett tackled the complexities of communicating with species vastly different than your own.
I particularly loved the two brothers who worked sort of as private investigators, but also have a really interesting psychic link to one another.
Throughout the story there was so much intricate exploration of how we connect to each other. Across time, species, planets. Connections between captor and prisoner, child and adult, brothers, partners, parents. Each relationship was different, and yet hinged on the mutual need for one another to survive.
And it also explores what relations we can survive without. Which was both devastating and grimly hopeful.
There is some SUPER heavy content though! So please take care of yourself and read the content warnings for this one!
Nothing seemed out of place or gratuitous, or just for shock value though. All the intense situations were there for intricate thematic reasons, which is something I respect as a reader. I cared about the characters before, during, and after the trauma they suffered, rather than feeling manipulated by it.
There was some super interesting world building in this one and the way the author created alien species was really fascinating. I really liked how Brissett tackled the complexities of communicating with species vastly different than your own.
I particularly loved the two brothers who worked sort of as private investigators, but also have a really interesting psychic link to one another.
Throughout the story there was so much intricate exploration of how we connect to each other. Across time, species, planets. Connections between captor and prisoner, child and adult, brothers, partners, parents. Each relationship was different, and yet hinged on the mutual need for one another to survive.
And it also explores what relations we can survive without. Which was both devastating and grimly hopeful.
There is some SUPER heavy content though! So please take care of yourself and read the content warnings for this one!
Nothing seemed out of place or gratuitous, or just for shock value though. All the intense situations were there for intricate thematic reasons, which is something I respect as a reader. I cared about the characters before, during, and after the trauma they suffered, rather than feeling manipulated by it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Trafficking
belleanndthebook's review against another edition
4.0
Destroyer of Light by Jennifer Marie Brisset is filled with a very unique combination of themes on colonization, religion, cultural relations, and the intertwining of our present with our past and future. The non-linear timeline of the book was thematically interesting, and I found it stylistically reminiscent of authors like Tony Morrison and China Mieville. Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it for readers who enjoy very theme driven explorations of both sci-fi world-building and characters!
Lastly, I’m going to add that I switched between reading physically and listening to the wonderful audiobook narration read by Chersie Boothe. As much as I loved the narration, I did get lost in the timeline a bit without visual cues like page breaks. In some ways, this narration made the themes on time more poignant; however, keep in mind that it also can be confusing.
Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review!
Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review!
larslovesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This is meant to be a Hades and Persephone retelling and honestly I didn’t get it apart from some of the names and a rather oblique reference at the end.
This starts off slow with 3 different timelines and story’s that slowly start to converge. Cora’s story is painful - 10 years ago, she was kidnapped and taken to become a child soldier where she was routinely abused until she managed to escape and catch the attention of the leader of the rebellion. We then have the twins with their telepathic powers who are searching for a missing child about a month ago.
The stories converge and we meet a host of different characters that are all linked to each other (some of whom have different names as times and locations change). It can be a little confusing but it all makes sense at the end. This is a sci-fi book so we have aliens, space and different planets. The world building is very skilfully done as is the terminology and personification of the aliens who have their own pronouns.
All in all - I found it a very engrossing read even with the difficult content. The characters are well developed and have good arcs. The pacing starts off a bit slow but picks up and gives a satisfying ending. The big climax/discovery was also a little underwhelming but I liked the way the story concluded. Overall I’d give it 4 stars.
This starts off slow with 3 different timelines and story’s that slowly start to converge. Cora’s story is painful - 10 years ago, she was kidnapped and taken to become a child soldier where she was routinely abused until she managed to escape and catch the attention of the leader of the rebellion. We then have the twins with their telepathic powers who are searching for a missing child about a month ago.
The stories converge and we meet a host of different characters that are all linked to each other (some of whom have different names as times and locations change). It can be a little confusing but it all makes sense at the end. This is a sci-fi book so we have aliens, space and different planets. The world building is very skilfully done as is the terminology and personification of the aliens who have their own pronouns.
All in all - I found it a very engrossing read even with the difficult content. The characters are well developed and have good arcs. The pacing starts off a bit slow but picks up and gives a satisfying ending. The big climax/discovery was also a little underwhelming but I liked the way the story concluded. Overall I’d give it 4 stars.