Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

55 reviews

blynecessity's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

Y'all, this read felt reeeal tone-deaf when it came to the topics of poverty and dealing with trauma. Also, very clunky writing. And why was there basically one woman in this whole book? Outside of random socialites, a couple of unnamed maids, and a girl who was about to be assaulted (who was also not named, just referred to as so-and-so's child), there are basically no women in this book. And the main woman was inexplicably and instantly in love with a mediocre and kinda rude man, who btw was a 21 years old to her 16 years old. Anywaaaayyy, non-noble women also seem to have almost no role in society aside from literally popping out "a dozen children"??? Where were they all the rest of the time?? Every background character seemed to be a man, and (with one exception) every foreground character was a man too. I just did not love this book, tbh. Maybe this was really progressive to the cis-het white men who were looking to expand their grimdark fantasy reads when it first came out, but this has nooot aged well!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, Stalking, and Trafficking

katievallin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Torture and Trafficking

maiathornton's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Slavery, and Racism

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual violence

thevietvegan's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

High fantasy, unique characters, politics, classism, magical science and humanity... SO FUN! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Slavery, Murder, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual violence

emily_j's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This is an engaging story (I mean, I read half of it in about twelve hours which is a feat I haven't really been able to manage this year), but it's very obvious that it's written by a white person. Brandon Sanderson's grasp of privilege as it functions in the world he's created is shaky at best and the novel is frustrating as a result. I'm especially frustrated by

The Lord Ruler turning out to be a Terrisman, which positions being angry about the people oppressing you as a wrong which will turn you evil, and Elend's role in the climax, which tells readers that minority-lead social movements will devolve into violence without a benevolent oppressor to restore order.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Slavery, Racism, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Genocide