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readingelli's review
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, and Slavery
Moderate: Death, Child death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Vomit, Murder, and Pregnancy
midnightgremlin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual content and Slavery
Minor: War, Cannibalism, Vomit, and Genocide
beccaand's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Slavery, and Genocide
Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit
zoiejanelle's review
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Child death, Death, Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Classism, Genocide, Pregnancy, Slavery, Violence, Colonisation, Gore, Hate crime, Medical content, Racism, and Vomit
Moderate: War, Torture, and Sexual content
maeverose's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I think this book is incredibly creative and original, and has important commentary on race and colonialism, told through a fantasy lens. I didn’t end up enjoying the book, so this review is mostly negative, but I’d still recommend the book if you can handle the content and can look past the transphobia.
First, I think if you’re going to include something as sensitive as sexual assault and rape, especially happening to children, it needs to have an important reason to be there. In this book I felt that those things in particular were there mostly for shock value. It really wasn’t necessary to take it as far as she did, and it bothered me.
Second, the way the trans character Tonkee is represented I found to be offensive. Not only is she frequently described as being smelly and unclean when no one else is, leading me to believe N.K Jemisin sees trans women as gross, but there’s also this line in a scene when she’s taking a bath in front of Essun (I don’t really understand why she did that in the first place but ok):
“You’re a little surprised to see a penis somewhere amid this process, but, well, not like any comm’s going to make her a Breeder.”
I could be misunderstanding, but the only reasons I can think of for why she would’ve included that comment would be to say that trans people are undesirable, or to point out that Tonkee can’t get pregnant, ‘but no matter, because she’s too ugly to be made a breeder anyway’. Either way, both of those statements are offensive and have nothing to do with what’s happening in the scene. Why would Essun’s mind immediately go to thinking about her undesirability or inability to get pregnant after finding out she’s trans? That felt transphobic to me. Also the fact that the two trans characters in the book (one isn’t even named) are introduced as being trans by describing their genitals, which perpetuates the idea that thinking about/asking what’s in a trans person’s pants is okay... it’s none of your business and it’s irrelevant to their gender identity. I really don’t understand the people praising this book for having trans characters… Tonkee isn’t even a main or important character hardly, and Essun seems to see her as an annoyance the entire time.
I don’t know if the offensive way Tonkee was represented was intentional or not, but it really doesn’t sit well with me and kind of ruined my experience of the book, which sucks because it is a really good story besides that.
Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, Child death, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Hate crime, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Transphobia, Slavery, Bullying, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit
purplepenning's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Rape, Slavery, Vomit, Sexual content, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Blood, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, and Eating disorder
Minor: Cannibalism and Pregnancy
corvidkings's review
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Pregnancy, Torture, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Minor: Vomit, Animal death, Cannibalism, Body horror, Deadnaming, Adult/minor relationship, and Blood
atlas_shruggs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The story follows three people: Damaya, a girl with great gifts that the world hates her for; Syenite, a powerful student who wants nothing more than to prove her worth; and Essun, a mother looking for revenge.
Knowing nothing about this book is the best way to go into it. I only knew that it had good representation and was well written, so I suggested it for my book club, and boy was it amazing.
It is masterfully written, the story ties together in such a gorgeous way, and even though it's confusing at first, the payoff at the end is more than worth pushing through this confusion.
Immediately after finishing it I had to go back and read the prologue, and it was so satisfying.
This review is all over the place, but just read this book okay??
Oh and check trigger warnings, for the love of god.
Graphic: Body horror, Abandonment, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
decklededgess's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A biting allegory for the atlantic slave trade and the treatment of enslaved folk, representation of generational trauma and the pain of choices made to protect and survive, and so much more.
It's a three part timeline following three characters in different eras of this world leading up to the catastrophic natural disaster that will lead to the next seasonal change that occurs in this universe. Each character is living an entirely different life: a child getting recruited into an academy to train her powers, a trainee going on her first mission, and a women with powers who was in hiding and is now in search of her kidnapped child.
I had no idea where anything was headed nor what the goal of the book was outside of survival. In that way I suppose this is a dystopic apocalypse survival book as well as a fantasy. Every new detail revealed was a depressing shock to the system as I read yet everything that led me to say, well what the hell else did I expect that's the dire reality of this world and the real world tragedies it's referencing.
I look forward to the next two books with trepidation.
Graphic: War, Trafficking, Slavery, Murder, Domestic abuse, Child death, Child abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Body horror, Vomit, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Death
genny's review against another edition
- 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
I admit I was intimated by the writing style at first, thinking "am I smart enough to get this?"...but it's quite accessible once you've gotten used to it. Jemisin doesn't really explain any of the lore, you just gradually pick it up as you go (there's an appendix, but as always, I never bother). It didn't feel "info-dumpy". I appreciated this, actually! Like she wasn't holding my hand through it, but gave me enough context to understand. This is in stark contrast to Brandon Sanderson's writing style in Warbreaker (I'm only comparing because I finished that right before this one) wherein he plainly explains the magic system like the mechanics of a video game. So: patience is needed, but it'll pay off.
The use of second-person POV in Essun's chapters was a perfect choice! It adds so much to the story, in my opinion. Damaya's chapters were my favorite. I'm proud to say that I figured out the plot twist before I hit the halfway mark, ha. I'm sure other readers figured it out even faster than I did, but I'm usually late to pick up on clues, so I felt insanely validated. 😆 The reveal of
Graphic: Rape, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence
Minor: Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Transphobia, and Vomit