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mogojojo1013's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
This was so amazingly good. All of these characters are so diverse and three dimensional. The pacing is really good and the writing is beautiful. The amount of character growth that happens is just astounding, and we get great commentary on things happening in our world through this sci-fi lense. We get great looks at mental illness and disability as well which I always love seeing. I will need to get the second and third books in this trilogy immediately so I can find out what happens next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Sexual content, Sexism, Mental illness, Gun violence, Murder, Medical content, Death, War, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment
rattification's review
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Violence, and Confinement
Minor: Xenophobia, Vomit, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Classism, Rape, War, Bullying, and Cursing
thysparklyreads's review
mysterious
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
I wanted to rate this book higher because I loved the Sisterhood and the First Sister herself.
I was thrilled by the complexity of the world building with its characters at the beginning but soon I found myself dreading reading certain character's POV despite enjoying the character itself.Choosing to make Hiro's POV audio messages instead of letters or something else ruined it. No one speaks that way. Felt so very info dumpy that every time which is unfortunate because I do love them.
Overall an alright read that is a good setup for the next installments.
I was thrilled by the complexity of the world building with its characters at the beginning but soon I found myself dreading reading certain character's POV despite enjoying the character itself.
Overall an alright read that is a good setup for the next installments.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Classism, and War
Moderate: Dysphoria and Physical abuse
kassidyreads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Medical trauma and War
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Abandonment, Sexual assault, and Bullying
livelaughlesbian99's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
I really wanted to love this book! Unfortunately the structural problems are just glaring. I spent the first third of the book trying to keep up with largely unexplained worldbuilding. Without that grounding the flow of the plot was kind of confusing. I didn’t fully understand the significance of characters’ choices when I don’t fully understand their position in the world. It’s too bad— good world and premise but the execution killed a lot of it for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual violence
hkraftcheck's review
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death, and War
katsmedialibrary's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, War, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content and Sexual assault
Minor: Ableism
major_tom's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? No
2.75
This book has been in my TBR pile for some time and I’m so glad I finally got to it!
At first, I was afraid the lore would be too confusing - I am not very familiar with space-related fiction and never had much interest in it. Here, the story started straight away - I liked how we discovered things along the way, without long and boring history lessons. Each chapter has a short passage before it, which could be a letter, a quote, or other short piece that gave more insight into the world. I love good exposition and, I’m my opinion, Linden A. Lewis here did a great job.
The main character are interesting, flawed and have their own priorities and desires. There are some flaws, but I’ll talk about them later.
I loved how unique this world is. It really stands out with how logical historical development of each nation is.Why the religion is the way it is, or why there is no AI anymore. And guess what? It’s THAT easy to include queer folks! And it only enriches the plot, the world building and everyone’s satisfaction from reading.
However, I got quite disappointed by the end. The ending felt rushed, used mostly explanation rather than exposure, and gave a bit of flat character development. I saw how some things before could be linked to the plot twists, but still it wasn’t satisfactory. I felt that the ending was made that way to create reason for the next book. I am afraid that the next books will turn to obvious conflicts and will greatly worsen in world-building. In my opinion, the book by itself is great as stand-alone (if the ending was changed). I hope I’m wrong, because I still enjoyed it most of the way.
At first, I was afraid the lore would be too confusing - I am not very familiar with space-related fiction and never had much interest in it. Here, the story started straight away - I liked how we discovered things along the way, without long and boring history lessons. Each chapter has a short passage before it, which could be a letter, a quote, or other short piece that gave more insight into the world. I love good exposition and, I’m my opinion, Linden A. Lewis here did a great job.
The main character are interesting, flawed and have their own priorities and desires. There are some flaws, but I’ll talk about them later.
I loved how unique this world is. It really stands out with how logical historical development of each nation is.
However, I got quite disappointed by the end. The ending felt rushed, used mostly explanation rather than exposure, and gave a bit of flat character development. I saw how some things before could be linked to the plot twists, but still it wasn’t satisfactory. I felt that the ending was made that way to create reason for the next book. I am afraid that the next books will turn to obvious conflicts and will greatly worsen in world-building. In my opinion, the book by itself is great as stand-alone (if the ending was changed). I hope I’m wrong, because I still enjoyed it most of the way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Body horror, Bullying, Blood, Emotional abuse, Violence, Racism, War, and Slavery
jeniwarren's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
The First Sister
By Linden A. Lewis
It’s weird but in a good way. The book is sci do- fantasy - romance - political thriller. All these genres wrapped into one.
I finished this book I just a few days. It’s easy to read. It’s enjoyable. Again, not the best thing I ever read but enjoyable none the less.
I will continue on in the series without a doubt. The world building was pretty darn good. The characters were believable. The romance- not so much. (zero spice).
4 out of 5 stars ⭐️ on Goodreads
4 out of 5 stars ⭐️ on Storygraph
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Violence
sombies's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
the other two characters are Fine but don't bother if you're actually interested in the title character. Her side of the story is the weakest and least developed out of the three POV characters.
Honestly she seems stapled in so the author could compare this book to A Handmaid's Tale in the pitch.
I was excited to read a book that was willing to confront the realities of sexual abuse but there's weirdly hardly any mention of it at all. It's almost as if the book itself is too afraid to talk about it and grapple with it.
It makes the Saito Ren twist at the end feel even more out of place tonally. Like I get that they're trying to say something about militarism and bodily autonomy but it's kind of jarring to have the book shy around ANY kind of physical intimacy before having a character pretty graphically detransition against their will. Honestly I think the twist could've been Better if First Sister was better developed to be a parallel to Hiro/Ren
I expected a lot from this book and it barely delivered any at all. There are some interesting themes and ideas but they aren't properly developed
Honestly she seems stapled in so the author could compare this book to A Handmaid's Tale in the pitch.
I was excited to read a book that was willing to confront the realities of sexual abuse but there's weirdly hardly any mention of it at all. It's almost as if the book itself is too afraid to talk about it and grapple with it.
I expected a lot from this book and it barely delivered any at all. There are some interesting themes and ideas but they aren't properly developed
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Medical trauma, and Transphobia
Moderate: Sexual violence and Rape