Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

686 reviews

lillypad827's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

I wasn’t totally sold on this book u til more than halfway through. Something kept me going though, the story was compelling and I had a feeling some kind of twist was coming. I’m so glad I kept reading! The twist

that all 3 characters we were following were the same person was incredible.

It was so well written and intriguing. I’m invested now and looking forward to the next two in the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

staceyjazz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful 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

4.25

A hard read at times but dark, fascinating, and suspenseful. Really enjoyed "The Fifth Season."

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

torilaird's review

Too much child abuse

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Trafficking, and Gaslighting

So much child abuse.

hyithia's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

• Took a while for me to get into, probably about 30% of the way into the book I started to grow more interested in two of the storylines (
  Syenite and Damaya
  ). This slow burn is why I am only giving this book 4 stars. Maybe this is personal preference, but I prefer it when books hook me instantly. 
• Enjoyed the writing style
• Captivating setting
• Unique point of view that took me a while to appreciate
• Very mysterious plot. There are lots of aspects to this first book in the series that are left as unknowns. This may be frustrating to some, but I found it fun to keep trying to figure out the ins and outs of this world and the magic system
• Speaking of the magic system, it is very unique and grows to be more and more complex as the book goes on.
• I loved the twist at the end when we found out that Essun, Damaya, and Syenite are all the same person. I started to piece it all together just before it was revealed, which was gratifying.
• This book is just as much a dystopia as it is fantasy
• Diverse characters
• Very dark

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Hate crime

Minor: Bullying, Genocide, and Cannibalism

sammymilfort's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

its_the_lauraxx's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

It took a while to get going, very Game of Thrones in that way, but once it did...wow. Very clever use of narration. Very brutal world and magic system. I'm heartbroken and hopeful all at once. I honestly don't know how I feel, other than deeply sad and hollow at some of the circumstances we (the narrators and reader) endure. I do feel a little broken, and hopefully I'll understand the point by the end of the trilogy. All in all, I will definitely finish this series but just like the movement of the earth, I'll take my time about it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

dahliapyne's review

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cannibalism

A 2 year old

is found beaten to death

at the very beginning of the book. Some characters disappear and we assume they died. People die from natural disasters, mostly non-characters but a few we meet. Some characters kill other characters ruthlessly and sometimes emotionlessly. The violence/injury/gore level is not extreme, but the instances that do happen are more detailed than many fantasy novels and very icky. The F word is used frequently. Characters have sex, but most scenes are not really very descriptive; however there were 1-2 very explicit scenes (consensual,

polyamorous

). One act of pedophilia is implied, another is described by one character when accusing another. Neither technically occurs on screen but the description by the one character could be triggering (does not go into huge detail but does use graphic wording). For me personally it created more of a visual image in my mind than I want. Sexual assault besides this is the relatively non-graphic scenes of

two slaves who are ordered to have sex with each other, rather than one person wanting it

. There is clear racism against a group of people who are slaves, and they do use a fantasy-word racial slur, but characters

are reclaiming the word.

I wasn’t sure if fantasy-word racial slurs for fantasy-races should be included under the content warnings listed above or not. If this were a movie it would be rated R, but short segments (gore, the 1-2 explicit sex scenes) could be removed and make it PG-13. Definitely would not recommend for young teens without supervision but it’s not a YA book

sleepycatlady's review

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

vitoxiii's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Physical abuse

Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Minor: Transphobia

phan_boy's review

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

Interesting magic and world building. Great characters and character development. The plot is emotional and impactful. Overall this is one of the best fantasy stories I have read in a while

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Hate crime and Sexual content

Minor: Bullying and Cannibalism