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theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.0
I don't actually have a crazy amount of thoughts about this book.
First and foremost, I really liked it! I thought it was unique and had a really interesting magic system - one unlike any other that I've seen in recent fantasy.
I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook, since each perspective had a different narrator. The full cast was great and it made the story really come alive. It was so helpful to see the timeline come together through the different POVs.
The representation was excellent. It didn't feel forced or unnatural like some books where it almost seems as though the author added it as an after-thought because they felt like they "needed the diversity." No, this one just integrated it the way life actually happens.
I was a little bit confused towards the end, but it could've been that I was just distracted? I'm hoping the sequel helps clear things up for me and brings closure!
First and foremost, I really liked it! I thought it was unique and had a really interesting magic system - one unlike any other that I've seen in recent fantasy.
I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook, since each perspective had a different narrator. The full cast was great and it made the story really come alive. It was so helpful to see the timeline come together through the different POVs.
The representation was excellent. It didn't feel forced or unnatural like some books where it almost seems as though the author added it as an after-thought because they felt like they "needed the diversity." No, this one just integrated it the way life actually happens.
I was a little bit confused towards the end, but it could've been that I was just distracted? I'm hoping the sequel helps clear things up for me and brings closure!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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? No
5.0
5 ⭐ CW: violence, descriptions of blood and gore, cannablism, implied rape, abuse (physical and verbal), sex, swearing
"A demoness is what men call goddesses they cannot control."
The Never-Tilting World by Rin Chupeco is book one in this duology. You all know I loved Chupeco's Bone Witch series, and this one didn't disappoint! I loved it!
17 years ago the world stopped turning and half the planet was plagued by permanent night and permeant sunlight. Goddesses live on either side unknown to each other until forces pull them together in an effort to fix the world.
This was a fun adventure fantasy read! We get a beautifully executed long-lost twin trope paired with a heroes journey type of story for both goddesses. The pov alternates per chapter between Haidee and Arjun and Lan and Odessa. The magic system and dark tear in the world struck me as Shadow and Bone like, but still original.
Lan is a badass with PTSD and has healing powers. I love her sapphic romance with Odessa, although I wasn't a huge fan of her, I preferred her sister, Haidee. Haidee is a machanicka (basically and engineer), super compassionate, and not very good at thinking things through. I loved her slow burn enemies-to-lovers thing she had with Arjun. He is a sand nomad with the power to channel fire and uses a gun attachment in place of his amputated hand.
I don't want to spoil any of the plot, but just know that this is worth a read. We even get sand pirates! Chupeco has also done a great job of addressing mental health issues like PTSD, and encouraging counseling as a means to heal.
Can't wait to read the next one!
"A demoness is what men call goddesses they cannot control."
The Never-Tilting World by Rin Chupeco is book one in this duology. You all know I loved Chupeco's Bone Witch series, and this one didn't disappoint! I loved it!
17 years ago the world stopped turning and half the planet was plagued by permanent night and permeant sunlight. Goddesses live on either side unknown to each other until forces pull them together in an effort to fix the world.
This was a fun adventure fantasy read! We get a beautifully executed long-lost twin trope paired with a heroes journey type of story for both goddesses. The pov alternates per chapter between Haidee and Arjun and Lan and Odessa. The magic system and dark tear in the world struck me as Shadow and Bone like, but still original.
Lan is a badass with PTSD and has healing powers. I love her sapphic romance with Odessa, although I wasn't a huge fan of her, I preferred her sister, Haidee. Haidee is a machanicka (basically and engineer), super compassionate, and not very good at thinking things through. I loved her slow burn enemies-to-lovers thing she had with Arjun. He is a sand nomad with the power to channel fire and uses a gun attachment in place of his amputated hand.
I don't want to spoil any of the plot, but just know that this is worth a read. We even get sand pirates! Chupeco has also done a great job of addressing mental health issues like PTSD, and encouraging counseling as a means to heal.
Can't wait to read the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gore, and Sexual content
Moderate: Cannibalism and Domestic abuse
Minor: Rape
poppywarphan's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.5
And with a harsh, grating sound, for the first time in seventeen years, the world began to turn.
The concept was very unique. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it. The pace was a bit too fast for me to properly grasp the worldbuilding. I would've loved if things were explained a bit more. In the beginning I was totally lost. There are a lot of things that are still unclear to me.
I loved one half of the povs, the other was just meh. Right at the beginning I preferred the pov in Aranth however I quickly became in love with Haidee and Arjun. Odessa's corruption arc was dissatisfying and she was redeemed way too easily.
The execution could have been better but overall I think I liked it. Though I probably wouldn't have continued with the next book if it weren't for Arjun and Haidee. I love their dynamic so much. It's just amazing.
The concept was very unique. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it. The pace was a bit too fast for me to properly grasp the worldbuilding. I would've loved if things were explained a bit more. In the beginning I was totally lost. There are a lot of things that are still unclear to me.
I loved one half of the povs, the other was just meh. Right at the beginning I preferred the pov in Aranth however I quickly became in love with Haidee and Arjun. Odessa's corruption arc was dissatisfying and she was redeemed way too easily.
The execution could have been better but overall I think I liked it. Though I probably wouldn't have continued with the next book if it weren't for Arjun and Haidee. I love their dynamic so much. It's just amazing.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Death
foreverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.75
OMG ASDFGHJK. My love for Rin Chupeco's world building and writing has only grown after reading this!
Rep: Chronically ill sapphic MC, Asian coded sapphic (lesbian coded) MC suffering from PTSD, disabled POC MC that is missing one of his hands. Possible sapphic side character--seemed to have a romantic relationship with another woman, but am not certain. I believe most the characters are POC but I'm not 100% certain.
CWs: Violence, blood, physical abuse, bullying, animal death, cannibalism, death, gaslighting, grief, sexual content, mental illness (PTSD), murder.
Rep: Chronically ill sapphic MC, Asian coded sapphic (lesbian coded) MC suffering from PTSD, disabled POC MC that is missing one of his hands. Possible sapphic side character--seemed to have a romantic relationship with another woman, but am not certain. I believe most the characters are POC but I'm not 100% certain.
CWs: Violence, blood, physical abuse, bullying, animal death, cannibalism, death, gaslighting, grief, sexual content, mental illness (PTSD), murder.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Death, Murder, and Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Animal death, and Mental illness
Minor: Cannibalism and Blood
booksthatburn's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
THE NEVER TILTING WORLD is a journey fantasy told by four sides as two separated sisters and their companions travel to the rift at the heart of their world to try and fix their parents' mistakes.
I like the world building, so much is shaped by the central conceit that something went wrong a decade and a half ago and the planet stopped spinning. I would like to know how gravity is still functioning, but other than that it has an internal logic that was pretty easy to follow. I like the magic system, there's enough information for it to make sense but it's not overexplained. I love this premise, and I love how it's carried out. The price of the gifts was a nice touch, the effects begin subtly and then cause a dramatic turn in the plot, making it clear both why anyone ever would have thought accepting them was fine, and how (from my perspective, at least) it's not worth it.
The four main characters all felt very distinct from each other, with different things they wanted, and many differences in what they were willing to give up and what they sought to protect. They had four very different backgrounds and it's shown well. I felt like I had room to like the book without liking all four main characters. I loved one, liked two, and have complex thoughts about the last one. That character undergoes a gradual change in mental state, it’s very well written. It’s marked by certain milestones, specific plot events that cause it to progress. It wasn’t until several of them it happened that I realized the shift they have been building, but when I looked back I could see its early stages. I love stories where a character undergoes a drastic change in how they perceive the world and interact with it, and this did a great job of portraying that shift. I liked how they were written, and my complex feelings come from initially loving them, feeling strange as their personality shifted to be wholly unlikeable, then realizing that it was shifting due to events in the story. At that point I didn't resume liking them as a person, but I love how they're written. I like the pair journeying in the desert the best, their duo was more relatable to me but one of the strengths of this book is that, as I said the main characters are so different that you'll probably like at least one of them, and the narrative doesn't hinge on whether you like all four of them as people.
The ending was good, it does make me want to read part two, and given that this is a duology the second half of the story is waiting in the sequel. It felt a little abrupt, but the characters both literally and emotionally arrived at a place that made sense as the ending before the next book. Sometimes duologies can feel like two intertwined stand-alone books, and sometimes they feel like a larger work split in two. This is very much that second type, I don't know if my impression will change once I read the sequel.
I like the world building, so much is shaped by the central conceit that something went wrong a decade and a half ago and the planet stopped spinning. I would like to know how gravity is still functioning, but other than that it has an internal logic that was pretty easy to follow. I like the magic system, there's enough information for it to make sense but it's not overexplained. I love this premise, and I love how it's carried out. The price of the gifts was a nice touch, the effects begin subtly and then cause a dramatic turn in the plot, making it clear both why anyone ever would have thought accepting them was fine, and how (from my perspective, at least) it's not worth it.
The four main characters all felt very distinct from each other, with different things they wanted, and many differences in what they were willing to give up and what they sought to protect. They had four very different backgrounds and it's shown well. I felt like I had room to like the book without liking all four main characters. I loved one, liked two, and have complex thoughts about the last one. That character undergoes a gradual change in mental state, it’s very well written. It’s marked by certain milestones, specific plot events that cause it to progress. It wasn’t until several of them it happened that I realized the shift they have been building, but when I looked back I could see its early stages. I love stories where a character undergoes a drastic change in how they perceive the world and interact with it, and this did a great job of portraying that shift. I liked how they were written, and my complex feelings come from initially loving them, feeling strange as their personality shifted to be wholly unlikeable, then realizing that it was shifting due to events in the story. At that point I didn't resume liking them as a person, but I love how they're written. I like the pair journeying in the desert the best, their duo was more relatable to me but one of the strengths of this book is that, as I said the main characters are so different that you'll probably like at least one of them, and the narrative doesn't hinge on whether you like all four of them as people.
The ending was good, it does make me want to read part two, and given that this is a duology the second half of the story is waiting in the sequel. It felt a little abrupt, but the characters both literally and emotionally arrived at a place that made sense as the ending before the next book. Sometimes duologies can feel like two intertwined stand-alone books, and sometimes they feel like a larger work split in two. This is very much that second type, I don't know if my impression will change once I read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Vomit
Minor: Cannibalism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
ramunepocky's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
- 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
In short, I really, really hecking enjoyed this book. I was a bit nervous at first when I realised it was four switching perspectives, but I found that they were distinct enough that it was easy to tell who was speaking, and it didn’t hinder the storytelling at all. In fact, I think it helped add to it as it gave us an insight into each of our four protagonists, and gave a nice back and forth between the two halves of the world and each of those who were there. I really liked that we got to see each situation from two different points of view too, like Arjun’s experience of the desert half of Aeon was very different from Haidee’s experience of it, and I loved learning about what they’d been through, and how it had impacted them, and made them into the people they were. I absolutely adored the world building in this book, I thought it was extremely fascinating, and I liked that we learned about it as the story went on, and everything became clearer instead of info dumping at the beginning. I also really loved the magic system, I thought it was very individual and unique, and really, really cool!! I loved that their gates could be a combination of things that made them into a certain kind of magic user, and that the goddess’ got to harness all the kinds of magic. I also loved that Aeon was a world with predominantly women in power, they were the goddess’, they were the rulers, they were the people in power, it was glorious and empowering. Also, there seems to be a distinct lack of homophobia, which we just stan tbh. As the story was told, I really enjoyed the parallels between the twins, like them both breaking out/running away at roughly the same time to start their journey to the same place. I also really liked learning about the history of Aeon, and the rites, and figuring out what that would mean for our twins. Goddamn the book ending on a cliffhanger, but lucky me, I have The Ever Cruel Kingdom right on hand to continue.
my favourite characters, as it stands, are Tianlan, Noelle and Haidee
I really love Tianlan; she’s been to hell and back, she suffers from so much trauma and was manipulated onto returning to places she literally lost her squad, her love, suffer and die, and yet she still goes, bravely fights on and does her best to stay alive to protect Odessa, to keep her alive, and to try and limit the suffering of others. I think it’s super sad that she thinks she doesn’t deserve to be alive, and that she doesn’t deserve the title of “Lady” anymore, just because she lived whilst they did not. It breaks my heart because she does deserve to live, and she does deserve to have a title. She’s a good healer, a kind-hearted person and incredibly strong. I love her.
Odessa makes me sad. I really loved her to begin with, I loved that she had her little acts of rebellion to obtain books, to have a life of her own outside of the tower and her illness, I love that she snuck away on the ship, and was kind to the scholars whilst the Devoted were not. Her destiny is just,,, sad. The fact that she receives these “gifts” and is too blinded by her new courage and abilities to recognise what she’s losing, to not even notice how much she’s changing as she loses her kindness, her control, her foresight, her mercy and modesty. The more she lost, the less I started to like her. She just became cruel and bitter, corrupted by hate, and in some cases, jealousy, her perspectives became more and more about how much she didn’t trust anyone, how much hatred she had for them, how much she wanted them dead. Even poor Noelle, who had done absolutely nothing to harm anyone or show her loyalties elsewhere, and Sumiko, who was a strong healer and doing everything she could to help Tianlan with her trauma and heal her. Some of her cruelty was justified; the Devoted /mostly/ had what was coming to them. The ones who abused and took advantage of the scholars and those of lower class to them deserved to have their status and gates taken, they had what was coming to them. But it just makes me so sad seeing Odessa’s POV become the way they are, so full of hatred and destruction and less the kind and excited person she was. Also, when she lost her self control, and Tianlan was holding onto her, so the galla taking that had the effect on Tianlan too,,, that part was just grim. So I wasn’t really sure how I felt about Odessa for a while, I kinda despised her, just a bit, but I was still scared for what the last sacrifice and gift would entail. when she refused to sacrifice Tianlan, when she refused the last gift/sacrifice and therefore refused them all and became herself again, it was a giant relief, and she instantly regretted almost everything she’d done, bless her
I absolutely adore Noelle, she’s so !!! goddamn !!! badass !!! The fact that she doesn’t have a gate of her own, that she has no magic and is a steward, she’s so goddamn BADASS!!! time and time again she’s came through with her weapons and slayed some monsters, shown absolutely no fear. Also, I absolutely adore her loyalty and friendship with Tianlan, she offers what Tianlan needs and accepts, whether she realises it and wants it or not. I JUST REALLY LOVE NOELLE !!!!
Also Haidee !!! Haidee is so sweet and precious !!! Her love for the dolugongs, the fact she names every animal she comes into contact with (including a big dead whale she was desperately trying to revive) is just so so sweet !!! I love that she’s a badass mechanika, I love when she completely modified and fortified their ride in 3 hours and Arjun was just blown away by all she managed to do with a couple of hours and some metal !! She’s so incredibly courageous, always doing what she believes to be right, even when others disagree with her, and without having anything /supernatural/ added, or taken away, to make her more so. I also loved her banter with Arjun, it often made me giggle.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I’m so so so glad because it was a highly anticipated read, and it didn’t let me down at all !!!
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I’m so so so glad because it was a highly anticipated read, and it didn’t let me down at all !!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
PTSD, the sexual assault is more hinted at, but it’s very much prevalentkait_sixcrowsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
slow-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
Representation:
- MC with PTSD
- Sapphic MCs
- Characters of color
- F/f relationship
Y’all, I don’t know what to say. This is my first Rin Chupeco book, and I am blown away. The characters, their development, and their relationships with the others (both good and bad)? Amazing. The world-building? Phenomenal. The plot? Superb. The way the story was told, with an unreliable narrator and the author giving us just enough information to want more, was equal parts infuriating (in a good way!) and stunning. Seeing everything come together at the end made me wiggle around in my seat as I ate up the last 100 pages.
Be mindful of the trigger/content warnings, and if you’re able to, I would definitely recommend this!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
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