Reviews tagging 'Death'

Rosalera by Tade Thompson

25 reviews

oceanwriter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

1.0

This was an experimental read for me as part of a reading challenge. The summary sounded interesting so I decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, this just wasn't my forte. I'm used to non-linear timelines in historical fiction but I guess I have difficulty following along with sci-fi. I started off listening to this as an audiobook but switched to the ebook about a quarter of the way in but it didn't help much. Another reason I struggled through it was the excessive swearing. It was distracting. I'm glad I tried it as the plot was interesting at its core, but between some of the subject matters and politics, it's not something I personally enjoyed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, and Body horror

Moderate: Medical content, Torture, and Death

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

The world building is excellent. I liked the shared mindspace created by alien fungus and enjoyed the book being set in Nigeria. The plot lost me a few times, but that's mostly because it was hard following the time jumps (between audio and the way I tend to process information). The side characters needed more characterization. I kept forgetting which woman was which. I did enjoy when one character told Kaaro that a woman in his life wasn’t a side character in his story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, Medical content, Gun violence, Sexism, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, and Confinement

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Drug use, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Grief, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, Torture, War, Body horror, Excrement, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Classism, Blood, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders

liesbethvv's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

The first science fiction book I’ve ever read and wow, what a way to dip my toes into the genre! Between the information overload, the unnecessary explicit sexual content and the revived people popping up randomly, I’m not sure this was the book for me. The imaginative writing Tade displays in this novel combined with the underlying messages of anti-colonialism and the sacrifices to a technology-driven society make this book an interesting start into the genre. It didn’t convince me to read the rest of the trilogy though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Death

klfgasaway's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Colonisation, Blood, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, and Sexual content

goosegrimm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

Rosewater is an interesting book. I'm not quite sure its my cup of tea however. I very much enjoyed Thompson's voice and his attention to detail in the setting. His prose is beautiful and really draws you in. However, the narrative is very disjointed and while that serves the overall story quite well, I had difficulty following even with the chapter headings. My suspension of disbelief was also occasionally broken both by the timeline changes and some of the plot points. Overall if you would like a genuinely fascinating sci-fi world to explore, this is a great fit. Just be warned that it can occasionally be difficult to follow despite how beautifully written it is. I am excited to read further works both in the Wormwood trilogy and by Thompson. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Body horror, Sexual content, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Chronic illness, Colonisation, Torture, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Classism, Homophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

thisisbecker's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, and Death

jenny_d's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

This book was super interesting! I had a weird experience reading it because I did so very slowly and deliberately, which is unusual for me. It was somewhat dark and not entirely what I expected. But I hope to read the rest of the trilogy eventually!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Confinement, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Xenophobia

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Car accident, Child death, Colonisation, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Transphobia, and War

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

This is a really unique alien invasion story set in Nigeria in the 2060s, in a city that has built up around an alien biodome that mysteriously heals the sick once per year. The alien has also released a sort of spore into the atmosphere that allows some people to access special abilities like mind reading. The main character is a psychic who (mostly unwillingly) works for the government. His perspective is awful because he's an immature misogynist, but the story itself and the nature of colonization that it exposes are interesting.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Cannibalism, Cancer, Drug abuse, and Slavery