Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

64 reviews

nixoneshoe's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Fatphobia, and Suicide attempt

sillevanhoof's review

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

6/10

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Classism

Moderate: Fatphobia and Abandonment

ashleykhoffman's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.25

I thought this book was great! I wish there had been a little less implied relationship building and a little more described relationship building, but otherwise I found the characters really likeable, especially Anoor. I did not see that final twist coming, and it really got me excited to read book 2!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Classism

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Death of parent

isopod_lover's review against another edition

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

4.5

I adore this book. I have to wait 10 weeks for the next book because my library only has one copy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, and Classism

maresuju's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense 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: Addiction, Drug abuse, Violence, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Slavery, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content

aiirglow's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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: Addiction, Drug abuse, Violence, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Sexual content

Minor: Death, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

katerinovaaa's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.5

It took me 9 months to finish this book and if I could, I would've given up within the first 50 pages. The characters annoyed me sooo much I just couldn't read more than 10 pages a week. The changes of POVs were super chaotic and hard to follow (like 3 changes within 2 pages, help). The beginning was painful.
2.5 stars because I see the world-building must've been time-consuming, the plot made sense, and there was loads of representation.

Trigger warnings / Tropes
🗡mild sexual content
🗡murder, blood, war, poverty, discrimination,...
🗡drugs (a lot, MC; also drugging other people)
🗡alcohol
🗡cruel punishment of children (physical and psychological)
🗡mention of SA at the end (not MC directly)
🗡death of loved ones

🔮3rd POV
🔮w/w relationship
🔮betrayal
🔮love triangle, jealousy
🔮strong bisexual MC
🔮elements of feminism and marxism
🔮competition (multiple challenges)
🔮appreciation of curly hair and curvy body (fat-shaming mentioned)
🔮zero tension between the characters😔
🔮detailed glossary, map

I'm really proud of myself for finishing it. I read the last 300 pages in a week because I had a deadline and FINALLY there was some plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Slavery, Torture, and Kidnapping

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

ford_defect's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.0

The beginning of this book is pretty rough. There were multiple times I thought about dnf'ing it (especially since it is so long). The pacing really needs some work. The beginning is super slow, and the main characters were pretty unlikeable (except Hassa) up until about 200-300 pages in. I also thought the treatment the Ghostings got was unnecessary up until 80% of the way through. When it all clicked together, though, my mind was blown. But what really annoyed me was all the fatphobic descriptions of Anoor. They lessened over time, but it rubbed me the wrong way. That, and the author put a lot of emphasis on how much Anoor enjoys food, which is another fatphobic stereotype. Another thing was how Sylah's addiction was portrayed. Major spoilers ahead.

I was so proud of her when she quit her joba seed use (albeit, she only quit cuz Anoor forced her to) and kept it under control throughout almost the entire book. But then, the author has her take a joba seed, so she can defeat Jond in Anoor's place during the trial of combat. And what's even worse: once she sees a healer after having relapsed, the healer tells her to essentially microdose for the rest of her life! I would rather have Sylah find a way to work around her seizures and tremors. The Ghostings have no tongues and no hands and they have found ways to talk and take care of themselves, so why can't Sylah find a workaround for her drug-induced disability? Like you wouldn't tell an alcoholic to keep drinking to prevent the DTs. You have to cut it out completely or it can ruin your life again.

And I had really gotten into the book by that point, too.

But anyway, now I'll talk about what I really liked about the book. The blood magic system was super cool. At first, I wasn't sure how much I liked needing to draw runes to fire a gun (since that would be pretty inefficient if you were slow at writing). Though, the longer I thought about it, the more it grew on me. Bloodwerk requires skill and dexterity, so not everyone would be good at it, which is a good challenge for the MCs that didn't know how to bloodwerk before. Secondly, the atmosphere was quite unique and immersive. Especially since the author wrote about the history of the world, too. The character development was also well done (with the exception of what I said about a part of Sylah's progress). I initially hated Anoor and Sylah, but they evolved so much. I was a little disappointed we didn't see more romance between them.

I came into this book thinking it was gonna be a sapphic romance... but it was more focused on Jond and Sylah's romance. The romantic scenes are still well-written, though. For both pairings.

So 3/5
I would have rated it 4/5 since it got really good halfway through, but I just can't forgive the author for how she portrays Sylah's addiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Fatphobia, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Dysphoria

lindsaybethlyons's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-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

I loved this book. There is a lot of violence, be warned. The characters, plot, and world-building were incredible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Rape