Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - The Fifth Season

Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

82 reviews

maeverose's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

TL;DR: The story is really good, but the ‘trans rep’ is offensive, and it’s extremely dark just for the sake of it at times.

I think this book is incredibly creative and original, and has important commentary on race and colonialism, told through a fantasy lens. I didn’t end up enjoying the book, so this review is mostly negative, but I’d still recommend the book if you can handle the content and can look past the transphobia.

First, I think if you’re going to include something as sensitive as sexual assault and rape, especially happening to children, it needs to have an important reason to be there. In this book I felt that those things in particular were there mostly for shock value. It really wasn’t necessary to take it as far as she did, and it bothered me.

Second, the way the trans character Tonkee is represented I found to be offensive. Not only is she frequently described as being smelly and unclean when no one else is, leading me to believe N.K Jemisin sees trans women as gross, but there’s also this line in a scene when she’s taking a bath in front of Essun (I don’t really understand why she did that in the first place but ok):

“You’re a little surprised to see a penis somewhere amid this process, but, well, not like any comm’s going to make her a Breeder.”

I could be misunderstanding, but the only reasons I can think of for why she would’ve included that comment would be to say that trans people are undesirable, or to point out that Tonkee can’t get pregnant, ‘but no matter, because she’s too ugly to be made a breeder anyway’. Either way, both of those statements are offensive and have nothing to do with what’s happening in the scene. Why would Essun’s mind immediately go to thinking about her undesirability or inability to get pregnant after finding out she’s trans? That felt transphobic to me. Also the fact that the two trans characters in the book (one isn’t even named) are introduced as being trans by describing their genitals, which perpetuates the idea that thinking about/asking what’s in a trans person’s pants is okay... it’s none of your business and it’s irrelevant to their gender identity. I really don’t understand the people praising this book for having trans characters… Tonkee isn’t even a main or important character hardly, and Essun seems to see her as an annoyance the entire time.

I don’t know if the offensive way Tonkee was represented was intentional or not, but it really doesn’t sit well with me and kind of ruined my experience of the book, which sucks because it is a really good story besides that.

Content Warnings

purplepenning's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

aiona's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark tense 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

5.0

Content Warnings

gogoisopodranger's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

mayvisin's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

Wow, I can't believe I almost gave up on this book the first time around. I think the world building was too much initially and I wasn't able to keep up and put it down around the 20% through.

Gave it another go on some friends' recommendations and not only did it not disappoint, it may be one of the best books I've read all year.

I love the way Jemisin wove the three (four?) viewpoints together for a masterful ending. Its also so refreshing to read about a complicated protagonist that is a woman and also not like 18 years old (don't get me wrong, those are great too, but we gotta mix it up now and then you know?).

Content Warnings