Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Stone Sky

Hoa says to your slumped back, "I can't die."

You frown, jarred out of melancholy by this apparent non sequitur. Then you understand: He's saying you won't ever lose him. He will not crumble away like Alabaster. You can't ever be surprised by the pain of Hoa's loss the way you were with Corundum or Innon or Alabaster or Uche, or now Jija. You can't hurt Hoa in any way that matters. "It's safe to love you," you murmur, in startled realization.

"Yes."

She draws up her feet and wraps her arms around her knees, curiously vulnerable for someone whose presence within the strata is as deep and dense as a mountain. I reach up to touch her ankle, greatly daring, and she blinks and smiles at me, reaching down to cover my fingers with her hand. I will not understand my feelings for centuries afterward.

The onyx says, in its ponderous, wordless way:

Execute Y/N?

And in the cold stone silence, alone, Nassun chooses.

YES

"It might take some time."

"I don't think I'm very patient."

But you take my hand. Don't be patient. Don't ever be. This is the way a new world begins.

"Neither am I," I say. "So let's get to it."

It's almost like the old days, except that now Hoa appears as you walk, gets left behind as you keep walking, then appears again somewhere ahead of you. Most times he adopts a neutral posture, but occasionally he's doing something ridiculous, like the time you find him in a running pose.

Remwha crouches to run a hand along the wooden slats of the floor. I don't know why he does anything.

Asked Tinimony to take me into the hole today and she said no. What's in the hole, huh? What's in the hole.

complex mother-daughter relationships fraught with abuse and they have to

catch the moon

? sign me up

Content Warnings

troisha's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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dayday_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

What a spectacular ending to this series! Stellar writing, incredible world building and the themes! Motherhood, love, loss, grief, regret, the journey from childhood to adulthood, found family, acceptance. I initially found myself not liking Nassun but by the end of this book I came to like her and understand her and (of course) remember that she IS a child. Her character arc was sad and yet I loved it despite that. She was everything that Essun wasn't and it wasn't until the final showdown that I could see that. Speaking of Essun ... still my favorite character. Even though I knew the direction her story was going, I was still hoping for a different outcome. She experienced so much growth throughout all of the stories and I loved how she finally, finally understood her daughter and how her actions set her on the path she ultimately walked. Essun's story was so fraught with pain and heartbreak that it was nice to see her redemption. The side characters weren't as prevelant in this story and that's okay because we got the back story and context re: the Shattering and the Stone Eaters and how the current world came to be. We also saw glimpses of how the dehumanization of the Orogenes began. I also found it interesting that we know Hoa is the narrator of this tale, at the end we find out why and I thought that was a nice touch. My only dislike is that after using the Obelisk Gate, the ability to use orogeny was taken away from Nassun and Essun. That in no way detracts from the story in my opinion, it was just a consequence that seemed unfair.

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-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

4.5

What a fantastic ending to this trilogy.

Every book in the Broken Earth trilogy ramped up the pacing a little bit until we reached the steady jogging pace of The Stone Sky. I feel like I flew through this book. It kept me engaged and enraptured. Which is amazing. I’m still in awe of the world building of this one and fascinated to find out a little more of the true distance of this timeline – more than 40,000 years in Earth’s future.

Sections in The Stone Sky were both finale as well as prequel. In The Obelisk Gate, Nassun’s voice was added to the narration. In The Stone Sky, we learn about Hoa and the Stone Eater’s history… and a little more about the distant history of orogeny. I continue to enjoy the depth of the storytelling here – the slow, thoughtful way it is shared (and now there’s even a reason why which I didn’t see coming and probably should have… but I won’t spoil it!).

More than The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate… there is a lot of thinking in The Stone Sky. There are Major Decisions to be made and much about the peoples and the Earth itself to understand. The breadth of this story encompasses not just Essun, not just her kin, but the greater story of ancient peoples and their greed for power and luxury. There are reminders in this book about human greed and about the dangers of not respecting the planet that gives us life. Earth is a formidable force in this book, thirsty for revenge. The outcome of the war feels a bit easy for me, a bit sudden… but I’m happy to accept it because this is science-fiction-slash-high-fantasy and it’s understood that some suspension of disbelief is required.

From a character perspective, though, I thought The Stone Sky was excellent. There was a lot of closure for me in regards to Hoa’s character as well as Essun. I liked that Tonkee continued forward in the story as well and grew as a person because of her time in the comm. In most books in this vein, the climax is thrilling, filled with magic or otherworldly things. In The Stone Sky this is still true, but Jemisin has infused it with heartbreak, so just as much as you feel like the ending is coming together… things are also falling apart even more. And that’s the sacrifice.

While I very much recommend the whole Broken Earth trilogy, it does take some patience to get into it. For me, that made the audiobooks the best possible way to ingest this story – you can disappear into the world without having to hold your attention on to the book, particularly in The Fifth Season where the POVs are a little confusing and the pace is much slower. Regardless of all that, though, Jemisin’s prose is absolutely breathtaking and for that alone is this series worth reading – I know I’ll be reading more of her work.

Content Warnings

blakethebookeater's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

The Stone Sky is the final book in the Broken Earth trilogy and I feel like it *mostly* sticks the landing.
I kid you not I have never read another series like this one and I don't think I will again. It's so unique and fresh and it boggles my mind that more people are not just constantly SCREAMING about how damn good this trilogy is. It deserves all the hype.
The characters in this entry are at their peak. The emotional, the turmoil, and the tension is all top notch and watching how their narratives unfold in this book is nothing short of masterful. The sheer imagination that Jemisin put into the worldbuilding of this series is astounding to me in the best way. It's so weird but I loved it.
The only area I have slight quibbles with are the flashback sections in this book. They felt a little *too* obtuse and is was very very hard for me to wrap my head around some of the imagery/events. It was good but I felt like it could have been condensed just slightly.
The pace of this book was also very slow. Enjoyable slow, but if you're expecting an action-packed finale, this doesn't fit the usual cliches (and that's a good thing).
Everything Jemisin did in this book felt absolutely deliberate and calculated and by the end you realize she's been setting us up for that final twist since the opening pages of the first book. Insane how well-crafted this trilogy is. I really have nothing else to say other than that I need more people to read this series. You, yes you, if you haven't yet, go pick up these books. NOW!

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