Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

9 reviews

ikiteahill's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The beginning of the book felt quite slow. Trying to follow the politicking and planning was a little convoluted and boring. But then the action picks up in the second half of the book and there's some really well written action scenes. I love the magic systems in this book and the concept of the world is really interesting (even if I don't fully understand how they grow food if all the plants are dead and brown... like, supposedly there are no flowers but they do eat fruit??). I really enjoyed watching Vin

grow into her allomantic powers

. And I loved Kelsier as a character and his relationship with Vin. Seized also became one of my favorite characters.

I don't know if I'll enjoy the next book with the two of them not in it. I would hope that Seized comes back from his journey soon to help Vin or that he gets some of his own main character time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Murder, Slavery, Hate crime, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Grief, and Genocide

Moderate: Rape, Confinement, Body horror, Infertility, and Misogyny

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

tilo's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

This was my first book by Brandon Sanderson and I understand the praise. The magic system is fascinating and I love that you do not only learn along with the protagonist(s) but discover that there are many mysteries revolving around it that even the characters have not figured out yet. Every storyline is intriguing and by the end, when all of them came together, the plottwists - some of them excruciatingly casually dropped (in a good way) - had me audibly gasping. The plot unfolds in such a clever and seamless way - truly inspiring for my own creative writing! 
I enjoyed the characters. For a good first part of the novel, I found them not very likeable (which is not something I need in a novel, anyway) but that made them seem more real and complex. From the first page, I wanted to learn more about them and became very attached to their plans and hopes.
The ending finished the main story line of the book but kept so many mysteries open and introduced new problems that I cannot wait to read more about in the second novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Child death, Murder, Genocide, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racism, War, Slavery, Abandonment, and Blood

Moderate: Grief, Infertility, Body horror, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexism and Rape

sirbebop's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Torture, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Grief

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

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

sashafriese's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, Blood, Gore, Slavery, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and War

kashby's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Slavery, Violence, and War

Minor: Alcohol, Child death, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

lydiavsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

(This was a reread to tab and annotate a copy for my bf)

My rating feels harsh, but this is very much based on my enjoyment not the quality of the book. I did enjoy it, but it was also an effort to make myself read at times. In fairness, I have realised that fantasy isn't my genre, so this was never going to be 5 stars for me. 

My main criticism is its just too long, 100 pages could easily be cut. I found the action scenes in particular just very drawn out and repetitive, but again that might just be me. 

Vin is a character I like, but found myself easily getting frustrated with. Elend is fine. The romance in this book is sometimes almost sweet if you ignore the age difference. Sazed I love, obviously. Marsh I like a lot. Spook is really oofed in this one, he's a cool character who is just kinda dismissed as being a lil pathetic in this first book which is a shame. One thing that I think my opinion has really changed on upon reread is Kelsier. Really not a fan this time, I don't hate him but he just irritates me. 

The ending was good, if a little (a lot) dragged out. Glad I reread it but also very glad to be done with it now. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Minor: Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Classism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

katievallin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Torture and Trafficking