Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

21 reviews

hailstorm3812's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I liked this better than the first one. I was thrown by the POV swapping but eventually got into it. I think it is an interesting exploration of grief and duty and connection, and Tau fits so well as a foil to Baru. It went a lot of places I didn't expect but to very interesting effect and I'm very excited to see where it goes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Cancer, Medical trauma, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Murder, Lesbophobia, Death, Body horror, and War

frogggirl2's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.5

"Yes, the world has laws, which are consequences for your actions. But remember that there is nothing you cannot choose to do.  Only consequences you fear to face" (p. 248).

The things I liked from the original book (the main character, the scheming and the intrigue) are all still present, but less so, and any strategy and characterization gets buried under too much effluvia.  The book would be massively better if every one of these sections that is not part of the main plot was excised.  I don't need any other characters' points of view - the plot just follows Baru going from place to place, and yet it's sufficiently boring and convoluted as it is.  This doesn't develop the same depths of relationship or examine a cast of side characters in the same complex way as the first book, either.  Everyone here, including Baru, seems completely incompetent (what happened to the highly qualified, goal oriented, self contained heroine Baru from the first book?) - it's hard to believe they can even stay alive, let alone run this incredibly potent empire.

This book is a messy slog and a complete disappointment after the excellent first book in the series.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Torture, Alcohol, Colonisation, Self harm, Violence, Cancer, Gore, Miscarriage, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Death, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Suicide

sheiksleopardthong's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

5.0

Slower than the first book, The Monster introduces a LOT of characters, and I found myself struggling to keep them all straight until near the end. However it's so so so good. Intense and dark and intricately woven. Dickinson has such a mastery of poetic prose. I love a book I need to put down sometimes because you want to punch and vomit on a character (looking at you Cosgrad).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Colonisation, Body horror, Death, Excrement, Xenophobia, Blood, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, War, Racism, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Abortion, Alcoholism, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Homophobia, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Murder

Minor: Vomit

aileron's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, War, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Cancer

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Child death, Miscarriage, and Xenophobia

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Slavery, and Alcoholism

ferlefur's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Homophobia, War, Body horror, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Xenophobia

beldaran1224's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.0

I finished this sequel with feelings very similar to the first book: I want to read more...but I don't. There is something very compelling about the world and the characters (especially the explorations of the means vs the ends. Despite this, I find myself very conflicted about the book - the narrative is so befuddled and deliberately obfuscated by the author that I find myself getting frustrated by it multiple times throughout the book. I understand why the author is obfuscating: in the first book, we're meant to be kept guessing about Baru's loyalties and in the second, we're meant to be kept guessing about whether she is merely dancing to Itinerant's plan or actually acting on her own...but it gets old.

That said, there's a lot to like here. The flashbacks and other perspectives, especially the ones for Tau-Indi, are exceptionally well done. I enjoy the way Dickinson uses Baru's injury as a method of narrative obfuscation, though I wish they had been less aggressive in doing so. The world gets broader and deeper in this book, too. I enjoy the way the text plays with

Baru's relationships with those around her, including Iraji, Tau-Indi, the diver and more.

I also enjoy the increasingly important question of whether Baru is compromised beyond hope and the exploration of

the opposing theories of empire put forth by Itinerant and Hesychast

.

Besides the obfuscation I mentioned above, there are a couple other gripes I have with the text. The first is that the plotting is a bit lackluster. The first novel was redeemed by an insanely compelling and heartbreaking ending, and this book's ending

just didn't leave me with the same impact or curious about the specific reveal that occurred

so much as leaving me hopeful that the final book will have a more propelling plot. I'm also not enjoying the character of

Tain Shir

.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, Colonisation, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Medical trauma, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Genocide, Ableism, Stalking, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual content, Gore, Gaslighting, and Cancer

Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, and Forced institutionalization

rosieryel's review

challenging dark

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

god this series is so good. i’m genuinely so impressed with the worldbuilding and political intrigue and depiction of imperialism and truly morally gray characters and and and…. literally the only thing i can think of that i didn’t love was i’m not sure why xate yawa’s pov was in first person? that was a little jarring for me but otherwise incredible as i expected after the first book blew me away so hard 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Torture, Body horror, and Cancer

eegekay's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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: Homophobia, Cancer, Colonisation, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Lesbophobia, and Mental illness

vonhresvelg's review

challenging dark emotional slow-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

The constant jumping between different points of view (and time periods) rather than focusing solely on Baru leads to the pacing feeling noticeably slower. That said, they provide welcome context and information, it can just be frustrating to finish a chapter on a cliffhanger, only to see you must read through a different character’s situation first.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Cancer, Homophobia, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Lesbophobia, Death, and Grief

eagoldberg's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Body horror, and Colonisation