Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

10 reviews

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny 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

5.0

I loved every moment of this conclusion to the Imperial Radch trilogy. Where the second book focused primarily on the political and cultural implications of colonialism, and, generally, felt more externally focused, this was deeply personal and intimate. After an entire book where Breq seemingly couldn't lose, she finally reaches the limits of her physical, mental and emotional abilities, and has to face difficult truths about herself, Ship, Seivarden, and her crew as a whole. I was levelled by the emotional conversations between Breq, Ship and Seivarden in particular.

I also felt like the pacing in this installment worked really well, making it a quick and compelling read. We pick up right where we left off at the end of book two, with significant action and emotional revelation before 50% and an extended resolution to the conflict that felt exactly right for the series and our characters.

And the Presger translator! The levity the Presger bring is excellent, and I was laughing out loud every time the translator entered the conversation.

Ultimately, this conclusion brought all the sentient ship moments I love - the developing self-awareness, the deep and unwavering loyalty, the stubborn insistence on respect, the passive aggressive rebuffs, the new emotional revelations. God I loved this.

"...And maybe it isn't that ships don't love other ships, it's that ships love people who could be Captains." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Vomit, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gun violence, War, and Drug abuse

Minor: Sexual content

violerwolf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

3.0

I wish this book was a better ending to a series I love. Unfortunately, I felt the dialogue was odd and stripped away a good deal of the interesting characterization of Breq, Sieverdan, Tsirawet, and Mercy of Kalr. Leckie isn’t as deft at handling characters confronting their emotions rather than avoiding them, and it especially shows when they openly discuss their relationships. Not to mention, the focus on neatly wrapping up a lot of big picture plotlines leaves this story without a lot of time to develop the complexity and nuances I love in the first two books. The new characters these plotlines introduce take a lot of pages away from the relationships, characters, and themes that the first two books spend so much time establishing. I’d have much preferred some open-ended lingering questions about the Ghost Gate and the Presger, but the book seems more concerned with tying up loose ends than telling an impactful story. I’m still excited to read Leckie’s other books, and hope they can capture the magic of Ancillary Justice and Ancillary Sword.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, War, Medical content, Body horror, Addiction, Blood, and Cursing

Moderate: Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Death

bleepbloop's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Addiction

black_cat_iiix's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Colonisation, Classism, and Gun violence

Moderate: Genocide and Grief

Minor: Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

kylieqrada's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

I loveeeee how this wrapped up!! Ann Leckie's writing definitely does it for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Genocide, and Gun violence

Moderate: Blood, Addiction, and Violence

Minor: Vomit, Trafficking, and Sexual content

ricksilva's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Picking up right where Ancillary Sword left off, and weaving the threads of the trilogy into a skillfully neat conclusion, this was a perfect ending to the series. The focus on the emotional issues of the characters made good use of the pacing that is controlled by the setting's methods of space travel, in which hurry-up-and-wait is how conflicts play out.

There was a surprising amount of quality humor, which didn't detract from the tension of the final chapters, a couple of enjoyable new characters, and some major twists and surprises.

This whole series has been excellent, and it was so much fun to see how it all wraps up.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Gun violence, Addiction, Police brutality, and Medical trauma

hanz's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, War, Death, Gun violence, and Medical content

Moderate: Addiction and Blood

queenie_ofthe_void's review

adventurous challenging tense fast-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 liked Mercy almost as much as Justice! The second book, Sword, was a little slow for me. I think that's mostly because Seivarden was my favorite character, and she took a backseat in the second book. But here she gets more time on the page, and her relationship with Breq develops. Their dynamic is what hooked me in the first place, so I was happy to see them finally interacting again and really digging into their emotions towards each other. Leckie did a great job bringing the trilogy to a close! I was on edge right up until the end. The twists and turns were great, and there was always *just* enough information to keep me guessing on what was coming next. Her writing style is still a challenge for me, but her characters are always worth it. Definitely recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and War

mar's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective 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

[holds gently]

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, and Sexual content

troisha's review

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Police brutality, Sexual content, Vomit, Colonisation, Genocide, and Trafficking