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malloray's review
3.0
So, is this book too dated to be read in modern day? I would say not necessarily. It has its issues; Ender is kind of a white saviour in an explicitly majority black Brazilian colony. Lusitania is portrayed as a little static, although I find humanity itself is portrayed as static in the Ender Saga. There is a character who experiences years of domestic abuse as ‘repentance’ for something they did and I found that a bit disrespectful to abuse survivors.
My issue is more just that it kind of drags. The aliens are what’s interesting to me, and we spend all this time on drama in Lusitania. Ender’s tendency to walk in and just solve years of trauma and everyone’s issues is just kind of weird?
But if you like the series, press on. There is a certain vibe to the world of the Ender Saga which I will always love. Also, I love Valentine. Will probably continue reading just for Valentine.
Graphic: Gore, Incest, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
aylasultana's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Xenophobia, Gore, Infidelity, Bullying, and Colonisation
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Incest, Genocide, and Terminal illness
nrogers_1030's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Grief, Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Infidelity, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Incest
drizzlybear's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Terminal illness
runitsthepopo's review
- 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? No
4.75
Speaker for the Dead: 4.75/5 stars
My few criticisms are that it took a long while for things to pick up, and I still don't understand why Miro was given the story that he was, unless there's a sequel involving him that I'm not aware of. At the end, it seemed everyone was given a happy ending aside from him.
"They're afraid of the same thing you fear, when you look up and see the stars fill up with humans They're afraid that someday they'll come to a world and find that you have got there first."
"We don't want to be there first," said Human. We want to be there too."
And that's when I stared at the page for a good half-minute, struck by how much I was feeling. It didn't stop there. I continued tearing up when the piggies learned that Libo and Pipo were in pain as they died, when they cried out in grief because they realized that their honored friends had spent their last moments in fear, when Ender is told that he'll have to kill again, that he'll have to kill Human, when Human embraces the gift Ender gives him, consoling Ender with the fact that he'll be living his third life, the life of light. When Ender admits to himself that Human will still be dead to him, no matter the facts.
The piggies are so undoubtedly alien. The mystery of their culture and biology was the biggest driving force for my reading the early parts of the book. But during their first meeting with Ender, they come alive. They are still alien, but so painfully human too.
And that's the point, I suppose. The narrative keeps coming at you with the Hierarchy of Foreignness, with the question of "Are the piggies ramen or varelse?" You continue to ask yourself, at what point do the piggies become sentient, mature creatures? But in one chapter, you realize that it was never a question of how advanced their society was, but a question of "At what point will humans see themselves in the piggies?"
Graphic: Animal death and Colonisation
Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Genocide, Infertility, Pregnancy, Racism, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
bencaroline's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Gore and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Infertility, Medical content, Murder, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Sexual violence, Ableism, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, and Genocide