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4.43 AVERAGE
4.43 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
The first half (book) is ok, but the second half (book) is great and it builds on the first one so well. The characters are interesting and the world is cool. I love the idea of dreams being a place of healing and death. I almost stopped after Killing Moon. I’m glad I didn’t.
"Sunandi was not aware of screaming at first. It was only when hands caught her wrists that she realized she had lifted them to claw at her scalp. And it was only when something scraped in her throat that she noticed the strangled, anguished cries echoing from Etissero's walls."
Yesssssss NK Jemisin! Come through and amaze me with your fantastic novels!
Loved this duology! Powerful writing, great world building, and relatable characters... All of my favorite things. I was seriously blown away by the scene above. Jemisin's writing makes me care about what I'm reading: every single character, their setting, what they're wearing, their motivations... Just everything. The only criticism I have is of the second book. It changed direction from the first, which seemed unnecessary but it was still a good read.
I definitely recommend this one.
Yesssssss NK Jemisin! Come through and amaze me with your fantastic novels!
Loved this duology! Powerful writing, great world building, and relatable characters... All of my favorite things. I was seriously blown away by the scene above. Jemisin's writing makes me care about what I'm reading: every single character, their setting, what they're wearing, their motivations... Just everything. The only criticism I have is of the second book. It changed direction from the first, which seemed unnecessary but it was still a good read.
I definitely recommend this one.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
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:
Complicated
I really enjoyed this book (not that it shows on the ridicule amount of time that I took to read it... but I somehow am not in the mood to read this year... o_O)
I liked the whole idea of the Magic in these books a lot, and that it was somewhat based in ancient Egypt.
I liked The Shadowed Sun a bit more, the setting, the characters, the climax.
In short, a very good read!
I liked the whole idea of the Magic in these books a lot, and that it was somewhat based in ancient Egypt.
I liked The Shadowed Sun a bit more, the setting, the characters, the climax.
In short, a very good read!
This is a review of the second book, The Shadowed Sun.
This book just really f***ing spoke to me. It's such an antidote to the Patriarchy and I LOVE it and you should read it. I read for 7 straight hours last night to finish this book at 6 o' clock in the morning ahhhhh
"even the smallest act of peace is a blessing upon the world."
This book has a balanced and enlightened philosophy. Reading this book makes me feel awake and like I know how to be a better human, a better presence on earth.
"So important to treasure life, protect it, understand it in fullness, while it yet lived."
“'Perhaps we can never weed corruption out of ourselves, not completely. But it’s important that we continue to try.'”
"The shiver passed through him again, stronger now, and with it came a sensation of rightness so powerful that he caught his breath. 'What you feel is balance,' said Hanani. 'Peace. Remember it. When that feeling shifts or fades, come back to this place and do what you just did. Or create a different place; it doesn’t matter. When you invoke your soulname, you shed the artifice of your waking self. When you create a realm in this empty place, everything—all that you see—is you. Change it, and change yourself.'"
"There was no peace in continuing to do what had already proven unworkable. Sometimes tradition itself disrupted peace, and only newness could smooth the way."
Her understanding of grief and the traumas we go through is just so spot-on.
"It was as if someone had reached inside her and hollowed out her soul. The edges of the empty place were raw, shaped to fit him; nothing would ever fill it."
"It helped, somehow, to know that she would not stop missing the people she loved. It felt—not good, but right, that the loss of her faith should leave a lasting scar."
Chef's kiss on how to look at being a human from a non-dominant group, on what it means to be a human under the Patriarchy:
“'Just because you have only now realized the potential of women does not mean that we have been fools all this time.'”
"'Earning honor for your clan—or your Hetawa, whichever—that makes you a woman. Glorying in your own beauty, mastering the power of your body, taking care of the world or at least the part of it close by'".
“'You will never be a man, Hanani, no matter how tightly you bind your breasts. You don’t want to be a man. And they may never accept you, no matter how well you follow their rules and ape their behavior. So why shouldn’t you embrace what you are? And serve in whatever damned way you want!'”
“'Any woman can face the world alone, but why should we have to?'”!
Ms. Jemisin respects the topics/cultures she covers so deeply, it enables her to display differences between them without judgement. She is a master of representing cultures at odds with respect and understanding that create such interesting and rich conflict, character arcs, and plot devices.
A tiny example: "Banbarra were so direct that he found them refreshing, even when they meant to be rude." A less tiny example: "In the wake of that, Sunandi could do nothing but allow a moment of proper Gujaareen silence. There was something to the custom, she had decided some years ago, of letting a brief passage of time cleanse the air, after dangerous words and thoughts had tainted it."
This book just really f***ing spoke to me. It's such an antidote to the Patriarchy and I LOVE it and you should read it. I read for 7 straight hours last night to finish this book at 6 o' clock in the morning ahhhhh
"even the smallest act of peace is a blessing upon the world."
This book has a balanced and enlightened philosophy. Reading this book makes me feel awake and like I know how to be a better human, a better presence on earth.
"So important to treasure life, protect it, understand it in fullness, while it yet lived."
“'Perhaps we can never weed corruption out of ourselves, not completely. But it’s important that we continue to try.'”
"The shiver passed through him again, stronger now, and with it came a sensation of rightness so powerful that he caught his breath. 'What you feel is balance,' said Hanani. 'Peace. Remember it. When that feeling shifts or fades, come back to this place and do what you just did. Or create a different place; it doesn’t matter. When you invoke your soulname, you shed the artifice of your waking self. When you create a realm in this empty place, everything—all that you see—is you. Change it, and change yourself.'"
"There was no peace in continuing to do what had already proven unworkable. Sometimes tradition itself disrupted peace, and only newness could smooth the way."
Her understanding of grief and the traumas we go through is just so spot-on.
"It was as if someone had reached inside her and hollowed out her soul. The edges of the empty place were raw, shaped to fit him; nothing would ever fill it."
"It helped, somehow, to know that she would not stop missing the people she loved. It felt—not good, but right, that the loss of her faith should leave a lasting scar."
Chef's kiss on how to look at being a human from a non-dominant group, on what it means to be a human under the Patriarchy:
“'Just because you have only now realized the potential of women does not mean that we have been fools all this time.'”
"'Earning honor for your clan—or your Hetawa, whichever—that makes you a woman. Glorying in your own beauty, mastering the power of your body, taking care of the world or at least the part of it close by'".
“'You will never be a man, Hanani, no matter how tightly you bind your breasts. You don’t want to be a man. And they may never accept you, no matter how well you follow their rules and ape their behavior. So why shouldn’t you embrace what you are? And serve in whatever damned way you want!'”
“'Any woman can face the world alone, but why should we have to?'”!
Ms. Jemisin respects the topics/cultures she covers so deeply, it enables her to display differences between them without judgement. She is a master of representing cultures at odds with respect and understanding that create such interesting and rich conflict, character arcs, and plot devices.
A tiny example: "Banbarra were so direct that he found them refreshing, even when they meant to be rude." A less tiny example: "In the wake of that, Sunandi could do nothing but allow a moment of proper Gujaareen silence. There was something to the custom, she had decided some years ago, of letting a brief passage of time cleanse the air, after dangerous words and thoughts had tainted it."