Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

35 reviews

jodean's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, Death, Classism, Murder, Violence, Blood, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Racism, Grief, and Physical abuse

Minor: Body horror, Ableism, Abandonment, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

ekcd_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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? No

3.0

It was good but there were some logical inconsistencies that I found rather annoying. Sanderson didn’t really think through the characterization of his own characters. That said the magic system is cool and the story is interesting. It left a lot of unanswered questions that set it up perfectly for a sequel but not sure I’ll finish the series 

Spoiler:
The vin Eleni relationship was really underformed but of course they said they loved each other. Typical fantasy romance timeline but still a bit cringe 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Infertility, Murder, Abandonment, Blood, Sexism, Body horror, Child death, Gore, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, and Physical abuse

lakinglaze's review

adventurous challenging dark 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

I’m so glad I’ve entered into the Cosmere! I started my Brandon Sanderson journey with the Skyward series and now I’ve moved to the behemoth that is the Cosmere. I love the world, I love the characters, and I especially love the mystery of it all. I can’t wait to devour all the books!  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Confinement, War, Blood, Murder, Body horror, Slavery, Torture, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Gore, Grief, and Sexism

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

5.0

I loved this book. I have been scared to start Brandon Sanderson’s cosmere books but this was so good! I can’t wait to read the other two books in the trilogy. This book was written in a way that if you ignore the epilogue it could be a stand alone so there isn’t much pressure in starting it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, War, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, and Infidelity

Minor: Mental illness, Misogyny, Cursing, and Torture

thaliareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

By the time I finished this book I was really enjoying it. However, due to the intense world-building needed, it took me a long time to understand the book and the cast of characters enough to enjoy it and feel invested. I think I felt a little disjointed from the story at first due to this. 

I thought the magic system was incredible and so was the world that this magic existed in. I can't even begin to summarize all the action, so all I'll say is that you'll have to give it a read yourself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Slavery, Religious bigotry, Torture, War, and Blood

Minor: Confinement and Kidnapping

This book is fairly dark and does have a decent amount of detailed violence and all that goes with it. The religious bigotry is all dealing with fictionalized religions that are a part of this world.

seanml's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

An enjoyable fantasy novel, and one that I understand the immense popularity of. Sanderson's writing feels fast paced and easily followable. The world is fleshed out and of course there is the magic system, which is the series' principal selling point. Much of the plot focuses on the interactions of this magic system though, and sometimes entire scenes will be dedicated to explaining why a sudden plan works. It means most of the plot is airtight, but the trade-off is that other things don't get the same attention. The setting is a familiar one that we've all seen before - the elite rule over the inferior masses, and only the special few can save them. It's a recognizable structure, but that doesn't at all mean it's bad or poorly done. I liked all of the characters, though I can't say I loved any one. Hopefully the sequels can fix that! 8/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Gore, Grief, Police brutality, Torture, Violence, Body horror, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Genocide, Mental illness, Blood, and War

Minor: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Abandonment, and Stalking

kaimetcalfe's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Abandonment, Classism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child abuse, Murder, Rape, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual violence, Death of parent, Torture, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit

dragonbornsandwaffles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

It lulls for the first third of the book or so while he's worldbuilding, but once things started to pick up, I quickly couldn't put it down. It's a very intense gritty fantasy (see content warnings for details - it's...a lot), and the characterization is so good that they feel like old friends. It does have a shock twist at the end, so if you don't like those, I'd stay away. It made me absolutely bawl like a baby for a good hour after I finished it. Fantastic book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Murder, Gore, Police brutality, Grief, Genocide, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Body horror, and War

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, and Racism

Minor: Alcohol, Racial slurs, Rape, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Addiction, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Vomit, Torture, Cannibalism, Confinement, and Stalking

maulikki's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The whole time reading this book I had a sense of regret for not finding this when I was in my most active reading years, around 12 or 13. It would've made a larger impact of me, even as I think as an adult I can definitely get more out of it now than I would've as a teenager. I see why this has been recommended to me, the book and the storytelling felt real in a way I seldom encounter. Of course it's very subjective, and I understand why to someone this might fall into the "yet another female protagonist's adventure with magic and learning lessons" category of books saturated with the ACOTAR-like books many of us don't enjoy in the slightest. This books has the it factor of fantasy books. No idea how to describe how and why, someone way smarter than me has probably put it in words somewhere on the internet. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Slavery, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Racism, Genocide, and Grief

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, War, Bullying, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Cursing, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Torture

eve_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

 Overall Thoughts:
⁕ The historical and socio-political portions of the world-building were all very intriguing. The finer mechanics of Allomancy (especially the travelling via pushing off of coins with magic), however, were overexplained. The many action scenes became boring and also made me feel like I was reading video game tutorials instead a fantasy novel.

⁕ I've heard a lot of people complain that Sanderson doesn't write his women characters well. Apart from the occasional "I'm not like other girls" moment that Vin has, there's not anything in here that turned me off from her portrayal. Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention, but she just comes across as another (understandably) Katniss Everdeen, jaded-type of heroine with a tough past.

⁕ I think chapters from this book could have been cut without it affecting the story. It dragggged at points.

⁕ The found family in this book is reminiscent of that in The Gilded Wolves and Six of Crows (minus some of the romantic connections). I think fans of those stories would really enjoy this one.

To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online/
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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Physical abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse