Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi

93 reviews

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

the_lesbrarian's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I really loved this book and can’t wait to read the rest of the series. It suffered from some pacing issues that had me put it down a few times, but it has so much going for it that I kept returning. The characters are rich and nuanced with relationships that feel like they could jump off the page. It uses familiar fantasy tropes and situations (gamelike trials for leadership, a girl trained as an elite warrior, an underground world of crime, a secretive magic) in new and engaging ways, making for a story that feels familiar and exciting all at once. 


 The world is queernormative, all characters are Black, and there is a slow-burn main sapphic romance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

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

babewiththepower's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, and Toxic friendship

mj_86's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Slavery, and Blood

Minor: Confinement and Sexual content

kayberlyn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

fairyollie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

it did not take me long at all to absolutely devour this book. full of political intrigue, a bisexual love triangle, complex societal expectations and norms all to similar to our own - this book has it all (and more)!!!

what I especially love about this book, as a queer disabled adult who uses sign language, is that disability, sexuality, gender, alternate/augmented means of communication, etc., are all simply facets of life. never do I see a book in which a main character - or so many characters - are disabled and it is not a "pity, shame, how sad, I could never, this is gonna advance so-and-so's character arc!", plot point or traumatic backstory. it simply is. there is so much more I wish I could say, but for fear of my big mouth and I spoiling a thing, let me leave you with this: I cannot recommend this book more; it is simply impossible. I beg you, please join me in this raw, open-hearted, desperate, vengeful quest for adventure and justice and give this series a try.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

ambitiousnalgene's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

Felt a bit slow but really enjoyed the depth of characters and world building

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Slavery

Moderate: Death and Violence

kaitrates's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Holy shit. 

WHEW Y'allll what is there to say about this stunning novel that hasn't already been said? I'm so glad I buddy read this and we could collectively lose our mind together on page 545 aka 95% . 

This one admittedly took me a bit to get into—as is common with new fantasy worlds where you spend the first 100 pages confused about what's what and who's who and so on—but once I had my proverbial feet on the ground, I was hooked. 

This has some of the best character development I've ever read with a plot that was paced perfectly to match it. And the world gets so much bigger at the end! I fell in love with this world and these characters and cannot wait to continue their journey in book 2 and beyond. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, and Slavery

Moderate: Body horror and Violence