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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.
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
andrew_corduroy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Gore, Homophobia, Blood, Body horror, and Colonisation
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Vomit
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).
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
mazomazli's review
adventurous
dark
tense
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
3.75
I really loved the first one, but like many others I found this one to be quite slow until the very end.
The author is very detailed about their worldbuilding and you can tell they have taken their time and done the work. It’s because of this that a certain topic that wasn’t particularly addressed so far and was just there. That I was deeply bothered by it. I haven’t seen anyone else address it so I will do so now:
Men in this book often take on traits women in the real world (western countries specifically) like makeup for example. There were multiple scenes where side male characters were treated as wh*res much like women experience today all of the time. It made me deeply uncomfortable as I was going in with the love of powerful women to see them enact the same exact violence in my lived experiences. It wasn’t explained why it was like this or given much context. It wasn’t even needed for the plot. It doesn’t make sense either. In real world examples of matriarchy-adjacent (as most western historians state that there’s never been a true one) this type of violence does not happen. These societies are usually quite equal and the women take on the task of passing down knowledge.
The author’s attempt to address colonization and all of that desperately needed some non-western research. Especially when the majority of character are coded as BIPOC. I just really wanna know why was it necessary to do these scenes with men being mistreated in sex by women? Like what was the benefit?
Additionally, while most of sapphic people I’ve come across have greatly enjoyed this series I find myself alone in some of my thoughts. As an early 20s sapphic woman, I would think I would relate a lot more to Baru. Unfortunately I just… didn’t. What I felt from the series so far is the sexual side of sapphicness and very little of the romantic feelings. I admit I am very much WLW and NBLW romantic and more of a demisexual. I did not feel represented in the end unfortunately which is okay, not every story will do so.
Finally, the biggest book comparison that can be made with this series is the Locked Tomb. There are several key elements that align both series especially with the outcomes of the main sapphic relationship. the butch girl dies and weird brain sh!t happens in the second book . These could’ve been very equal books for me, especially since the locked tomb is one of my all time favorites. I can follow the confusion for the most part and greatly appreciate complex plots. However due to all the reasons above I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much as I had hoped.
The author is very detailed about their worldbuilding and you can tell they have taken their time and done the work. It’s because of this that a certain topic that wasn’t particularly addressed so far and was just there. That I was deeply bothered by it. I haven’t seen anyone else address it so I will do so now:
Men in this book often take on traits women in the real world (western countries specifically) like makeup for example. There were multiple scenes where side male characters were treated as wh*res much like women experience today all of the time. It made me deeply uncomfortable as I was going in with the love of powerful women to see them enact the same exact violence in my lived experiences. It wasn’t explained why it was like this or given much context. It wasn’t even needed for the plot. It doesn’t make sense either. In real world examples of matriarchy-adjacent (as most western historians state that there’s never been a true one) this type of violence does not happen. These societies are usually quite equal and the women take on the task of passing down knowledge.
The author’s attempt to address colonization and all of that desperately needed some non-western research. Especially when the majority of character are coded as BIPOC. I just really wanna know why was it necessary to do these scenes with men being mistreated in sex by women? Like what was the benefit?
Additionally, while most of sapphic people I’ve come across have greatly enjoyed this series I find myself alone in some of my thoughts. As an early 20s sapphic woman, I would think I would relate a lot more to Baru. Unfortunately I just… didn’t. What I felt from the series so far is the sexual side of sapphicness and very little of the romantic feelings. I admit I am very much WLW and NBLW romantic and more of a demisexual. I did not feel represented in the end unfortunately which is okay, not every story will do so.
Finally, the biggest book comparison that can be made with this series is the Locked Tomb. There are several key elements that align both series especially with the outcomes of the main sapphic relationship.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Body horror, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, War, Blood, Homophobia, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Outing, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Vomit, Alcohol, Classism, Child death, Death of parent, and Sexual assault
giuliaprim's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I have seen people complain about this book, saying it was completely different / detached from the Traitor. As someone who read Monster right after Traitor I didn't perceive this change. I mean, the setting is obviously different, as are the characters and especially Baru's mission.
Baru as a character had a downfall, but not in the sense that she is completely different from the first book as some say. She is mourning and grieving for most of the book, as I understood it was not very liked by many. Honestly, that's what I expect from a character after losing someone. In fact, although her behavior is unhealthy most of the time, as Shao Lune pointed out, and as it should be, I think Baru has held back a lot. She didn't let her feelings get in the way, even if she got a little more reckless. What I mean is that it is impossible to have a perfect Baru after the events of the first book, it seems that some people cannot understand it.
Every time Tain Hu is mentioned i felt like I was the one who was mourning lol.
Ulyu Xe is just... Baru should marry her.
Aminata, girl... Every time she was on page i was so excited, I love her. I can't wait for them to reunite.
I don't know how to feel about Shao Lune. But i guess that's the point.
Tain Shir is a BEAST and i love her for that. I've read good things about her, so i guess I'll probably be a simp when I'll read Tyrant.
Hers, my home. *cries*
Anyway, I like the book, it's a solid 4 stars.
Baru as a character had a downfall, but not in the sense that she is completely different from the first book as some say. She is mourning and grieving for most of the book, as I understood it was not very liked by many. Honestly, that's what I expect from a character after losing someone. In fact, although her behavior is unhealthy most of the time, as Shao Lune pointed out, and as it should be, I think Baru has held back a lot. She didn't let her feelings get in the way, even if she got a little more reckless. What I mean is that it is impossible to have a perfect Baru after the events of the first book, it seems that some people cannot understand it.
Every time Tain Hu is mentioned i felt like I was the one who was mourning lol.
Ulyu Xe is just... Baru should marry her.
Aminata, girl... Every time she was on page i was so excited, I love her. I can't wait for them to reunite.
I don't know how to feel about Shao Lune. But i guess that's the point.
Tain Shir is a BEAST and i love her for that. I've read good things about her, so i guess I'll probably be a simp when I'll read Tyrant.
Hers, my home. *cries*
Anyway, I like the book, it's a solid 4 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, Murder, Xenophobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Cancer and Alcohol
Minor: Vomit and War
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