Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

99 reviews

cptnstphy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

Fascinating what Jemison is capable of! The story unfolds in very unexpected and exciting ways. I knew early on that I would have to read it twice to really understand it, and I look forward to doing so. The worldbuilding is strong and the characters mysterious and interesting, and the reader can feel connected to them in some ways despite the fantasy-inflicted differences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Medical content

Minor: Vomit, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

lucystolethesky's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Deadnaming, Gore, Slavery, Blood, and Trafficking

Minor: Mental illness, Transphobia, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

readingelli's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Vomit, Murder, and Pregnancy

kaimetcalfe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Pregnancy

cadence99's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

Wow. What a fantastic book. The world building here is SO rich and well done. Both heartbreaking and intriguing, I can’t wait to continue the series 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pregnancy

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

We've got a (maybe?) post-apocalyptic world with three alternating POVs, a nonlinear timeline, a mysterious (and potentially unreliable?) narrator speaking to us in the second person and a few of the most richly developed characters I've encountered in fantasy. The writing style is hard to define - each POV is starkly individual, at times alarmingly casual and at other times poetic and at still others a stream of consciousness. 

There really is no other book (I know of) that serves as a useful/direct comparison, but I do believe readers who love the Locked Tomb series (particularly for Muir's use of an unreliable narrator/second person POV in Harrow) and Legendborn (for Deonn's skillful use of fantasy to create a rich allegory for slavery and colonialism) will enjoy this.

And THE TWISTS. They were perfectly executed. Jemisin weaves clues in so subtly that you don't notice them for what they are until you've reached your first big reveal. I love an author who can pull off a well-deserved twist that all at once feels both obvious and unbelievable because they've laid the foundation so well. It's a pet peeve of mine when fantasy authors deliver a plot "twist" simply by omitting crucial information for the reader (looking at you SJM-House-of-Earth-and-Blood-and-House-of-Sky-and-Breath), and this, thankfully, is not that. 

Highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Body horror and Blood

Minor: Abandonment

mossgoblins's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

Incredible story with the best worldbuilding I have ever seen. N.K. Jemison is a master of her craft!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

studydniowka's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

One of the best fantasy books I have ever read. Epic story about the world so different but still so similar to our lives here and now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Classism

_forestofpages's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

** content warnings: child death, violence, abuse, murder, torture, graphic sexual content, enslavement, environmental disaster, grief **

This book throws you into the deep end of a post-apocalyptic world that is on the verge of yet another apocalyptic event. But this one, might just be the final one.  

There are a smallish group of marginalized magical people and the humans that enslave them, but most of the population of Father Earth (yes Father not mother, no idea why) is small because Father Earth is angry and continuously triggers these world shattering events called "Seasons". They are always different, and always devastating. Most of the time these seasons wipe out large swaths of the population and their civilizations, forcing humanity to start over every few decades. 

The plot can be hard to sift through at first, because again, you are thrown into the deep with no life-raft, but once you have a handle on the basics and the characters are established (about 70 pages in or so), the story takes off and some of your questions are answered, then a lot more are posed. The writing is amazing, the second person parts are so immersive and make you really feel like you are a part of this story, and the amount of forethought is incredible. I personally am upset with myself for not picking this up sooner. The very obvious climate themes are so relevant, and terrifying in this context. The psychological depth of the characters and their journeys, and the raw emotion of the main character's personal tragedy, not to mention the tragedy of the orogene in general is gut-wrenching, and so beautifully done.

If you haven't read this yet, I doubt you will disappointed.  Overwhelmed maybe, but not disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Physical abuse, Torture, and Blood

danaaliyalevinson's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

A brilliant allegory about the human desire to master and control nature and how it causes our own ruin. There's also commentary on racism, empire, and the military industrial complex for good measure. The world building is exquisite. The characters are beautifully drawn. Definitely recommend, especially if you're a sci-fi/fantasy fan. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail