Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

34 reviews

erebus53's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

This is a book I picked up because I got a recommendation of the second one and then realised I needed to read this one to catch up. Oops. 

There are three main characters. In a harsh world, a young boy is taken from his life to be turned into the vessel for a Godform. The whole story starts in abuse, physical mutilation, and sacrifice, and that's pretty harsh. Although his life is harsh it is not without love. At least the kid has his crows.

A young girl is brought up in poverty in the back streets, and through savvy and devotion she is elevated to the head of her religious sect, but her underlings aren't happy about it.

A woman of an Amazon-like minority culture, and who are said to have magical powers, is the captain of a ship that takes a strange cargo on a tight deadline,  at the wrong time of year, and she has to deal with an unruly crew, and dangerous weather.

The plot is just an underpinning though. The characters are really fun, and through the narrative there are many characters of many different genders and sexualities. There are at least two obviously NB characters with xe/xer pronouns and one side character is a trans woman. It's normalised, but not all cultures have the same attitudes toward sex, gender roles, or even nudity.

Although there is some combat and training-montage type scenes I was not bored and it was not blow-by-blow or glamorizing. The pace was good, the character interplay was fun and I bought in, and I've always been a sucker for prophecy stories... This one is hopped up on monk juice, scary mermaid energy and seriously full of crows (and crows are cool). Some of these babies are riding size.
Where's MY crow mount?? ok I'm off to read the second one.



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2treads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? No

5.0

Absolutely amazing. Mybs3cond time reading this book and I am still in love with how Roanhorse has built this story. The cagracywrs are compelling, the plot moves well and keeps me engaged and immersed. The influence of the Meso-American peoples can be seen in the festivals, dress, beliefs, and clan groupings. 

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salemander's review against another edition

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5.0

this book is fucking amazing. absolute genius 

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ivereads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

I am beyond words, I recently got back into reading after having over a 8-10 year slump, and I read this over the course of just 6 days. (That is insanely impressive for my slump) The storyline is phenomenal and I am absolutely in love with everything the author did. Rebecca Roanhorse did her mfing research and made the whole world building amazing. I am autistic so I have some biases for loving this stuff because it's a personal special interest. But she did a great job of bringing Indigenous history into a fantastical world full of magic and I beg that the second book is just as good and thoughtful. (Going to read that next) If you don't mind the talk of occasional violence and you love culture rich and diverse casts in a fantastical setting, i one million times over recommend this. Thanking and bowing to my friend who recommended me this. 

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yourbookishbff's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

The full-cast audio production of Black Sun is phenomenal and I highly recommend! Each character felt so distinct, making this large cast of characters in rotating POV easy to follow. I loved the pacing of this story, the slow-burn countdown to Convergence blended with character flashbacks. It created a unique tension and building sense of dread. The chapter starts and excerpts from fictional historical accounts were so well done and added depth to the world building. I particularly loved the dynamic between Xiala and Serapio and was so grateful I could immediately jump into book two after that ending! 

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itsbrianascall's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5


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ash_ton's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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nerdysread's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

WoW. When I started this book I didn’t know I would love it so much. It’s slow paced but you still can’t put it down. The characters are great, the political intrigues too. 
Maybe the romance could not have been there. But it’s not a big deal, it’s still good 

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nicnevin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • 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

4.0

I found the book very interesting but some bits more interesting than others. Xiala and Serapio were my favourites tbh. 

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llyfrauginger's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.0


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