Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Les Cieux pétrifiés by N.K. Jemisin, Michelle Charrier

33 reviews

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

After finishing The Stone Sky, the final installment in NJ Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy, I MARVEL at how she pulled off these story arcs across three books. How she managed to examine slavery, motherhood, intergenerational trauma AND a climate crisis - without ANY of these layered allegories feeling incomplete or forced in any way - is genius. 

And while Jemisin deals in BIG global themes, she is also incredibly intimate. She gives such grace to each character that we are consistently pushed to reevaluate our sympathies and our own assumptions. I appreciate that while the fall-out for each character is complex, leaving each in morally grey spaces, the evil at the root of all this tragedy is very clear. Jemisin doesn't leave our interpretation to chance here - she (Hoa) will interject frequently, and we're reminded that for every single crime committed, other choices were always possible.

This series is HEAVY with lots of on-page trauma (please check content warnings!). But I highly recommend. I will be carrying these characters in my heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Body horror, Racism, Torture, Murder, Abandonment, Death, Racial slurs, and Genocide

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Cannibalism

some_random_person_hi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense

• 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

As the ending of the series, it more than delivered, with some of if not the best worldbuilding I have ever seen in my life (the other books in the series also had really good worldbuilding but this one took it to the next level) and everything is wrapped up better than I thought possible. The character arcs & relationships between characters are really well written and I got emotional at quite a few points. Only issue with the book was that a couple chapters dragged a little but overall one of the best books I have ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Abandonment, Genocide, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Stalking, Murder, Child death, Medical content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Pregnancy, Torture, Hate crime, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit, Excrement, Colonisation, Cursing, and Sexual content

abbyschalupa's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Murder, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Violence, Pregnancy, Death, Genocide, and Injury/Injury detail

kjoli's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Child death, Child abuse, Murder, and Genocide

boglord's review against another edition

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

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Slavery, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Medical content, Abandonment, Blood, Toxic friendship, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Torture

iordanmoore's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Sexual content, Racism, War, Violence, Slavery, Murder, Genocide, and Death

rubybastille's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

These were challenging reads, both thematically and structurally, but well worth it. I did not expect such a satisfying ending. My heart broke so many times reading this and yet there were so many grains of hope scattered just where they were needed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Murder, and Medical content

Moderate: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Genocide, Self harm, and Racism

Minor: War

troisha's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Xenophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Child death, Drug use, Excrement, Infertility, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

dayday_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

What a spectacular ending to this series! Stellar writing, incredible world building and the themes! Motherhood, love, loss, grief, regret, the journey from childhood to adulthood, found family, acceptance. I initially found myself not liking Nassun but by the end of this book I came to like her and understand her and (of course) remember that she IS a child. Her character arc was sad and yet I loved it despite that. She was everything that Essun wasn't and it wasn't until the final showdown that I could see that. Speaking of Essun ... still my favorite character. Even though I knew the direction her story was going, I was still hoping for a different outcome. She experienced so much growth throughout all of the stories and I loved how she finally, finally understood her daughter and how her actions set her on the path she ultimately walked. Essun's story was so fraught with pain and heartbreak that it was nice to see her redemption. The side characters weren't as prevelant in this story and that's okay because we got the back story and context re: the Shattering and the Stone Eaters and how the current world came to be. We also saw glimpses of how the dehumanization of the Orogenes began. I also found it interesting that we know Hoa is the narrator of this tale, at the end we find out why and I thought that was a nice touch. My only dislike is that after using the Obelisk Gate, the ability to use orogeny was taken away from Nassun and Essun. That in no way detracts from the story in my opinion, it was just a consequence that seemed unfair.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Murder