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marsh_mall0w's review
- 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
Graphic: Gun violence, Genocide, Murder, Child death, Death, and War
Moderate: Torture, Sexual harassment, and Medical trauma
Minor: Confinement and Grief
stardust_heidi's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Death, Gore, War, Violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Genocide, and Gun violence
erkietheturkey's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Genocide, Slavery, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, and War
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Suicide, Confinement, and Drug use
lauramcc7's review
- 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? No
4.5
Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Death, Blood, Murder, Death of parent, Gun violence, Grief, and Violence
taryn_g's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Murder, Death, and War
Moderate: Chronic illness and Child death
Minor: Death of parent
camoo3032's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Child death, War, Violence, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, and Gun violence
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Torture
cait's review
- 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
4.75
Minor: Blood, Confinement, Drug use, War, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child death, Colonisation, Gore, Police brutality, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, and Torture
lucilaroife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
carissa230's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Unlike most series, the last book was my least favorite in this series and the 2nd book was my favorite. I know that I am in the minority on this opinion.
Asha and Rhys were a couple on Earth, but they got into a lot of trouble and were separated. Asha went to Kerenza IV and Rhys was sent to the BeiTech military. When they meet up again in the middle of this war sparks don't fly. Asha wants nothing to do with him and is just trying to help underground insurgency escape.
When Rhys sees Asha he is shooketh. He doesn't know how to feel and isn't sure why she's so upset. Then while on a regular patrol he witnesses one of the commanders shoot a little kid for being out after curfew trying to find food. Rhys cannot live with killing children for no reason. Then he finds out they eliminated anyone that wasn't essential, a little over 2,000 people. He begins to question everything he has been told.
At the same time we still have the ship Mao coming to assist. Kady & Ezra, Hannah & Nik, Ella, and of course AIDAN are on the way to save the day. Hannah is struggling with her grief, which was nice to see some reality added to the story.
Graphic: Grief, Murder, War, Gun violence, and Child death
Moderate: Death of parent
ktrecs's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
This was the dynamic finale I expected from this series, but it just didn't *hit* like the others. I think part of the problem is that the irreverent humour and liveliness with which the narrative parts are presented seem particularly incongruous in this section, mixed up as they were with detailed descriptions of straight up genocide so like. There was that.
I did like the themes of conscience, consciousness and humanity (a staple theme in scifi) but I'm a little disappointed too that we didn't get to see the larger ramifications of the Kerenza IV conviction. The whole series harps on about how complex and redeemable humanity is, so making the Big Bad just..... a woman..... and to suggest on top of that that she is somehow less redeemable than the soldiers who actually committed the heinous war crimes she ordered them to seems to be a little bit abortive. Where is the systemic analysis here? The logical conclusion of the arguments the whole series makes seems to be that capitalism is the real evil - through this lens, slapping some corporate head honchos with a guilty verdict hardly seems to qualify as the justice owed to the Kerenzan refugees.
Maybe that's a lot to ask of a series like this, but it just didn't sit right with me.
Despite all these complaints (and a lamentable dearth of queer characters, like wtf was with that??? Three central couples and all of them hetero????), I really loved this series. Kaufman and Kristoff really do The Most with form, and I think it's brilliantly executed. Found footage is an absolute FAVE of mine, conceptually speaking, but I often find the actual works hard to digest (lookin @ you, shaky cam footage), but the frame narrative drew everything together neatly here. AIDAN was a particular favourite of mine, because it added a really excellent element of exisistential dread all the way through the series (and because I am a SUCKER for a what-makes-us-human AI plotline). Most impressively, I my opinion, is that the threads of emotional anguish stayed taut throughout even the most clusterfucky action sequences and I think that's a really hard line to walk without becoming heavy-handed. I found this particularly incisive because of the way that aligned with the goals of the Illuminae Group - I'm thinking specifically of the choice, both by the authors and by Kady & co., to include the notes from Dr. Grant - seemingly irrelevant to the narrative itself but serving a particular persuasive purpose in the context of the court case.
Anyway this is the longest review I've written in approximately 1 million years so I guess it deserves recognition for causing a stir in my cold, dead heart.
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Confinement and Sexual harassment