Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

91 reviews

vivavia's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Slavery, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Torture, Vomit, Violence, and Classism

cookiecat73's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Child death, Blood, Grief, and Sexual content

Moderate: Transphobia, Genocide, Bullying, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Gore, Vomit, Animal death, Body horror, Racism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Slavery, Dysphoria, and Confinement

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

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

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

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

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

Minor: Transphobia, Pregnancy, Mental illness, and Cannibalism

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

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

Minor: Vomit, Murder, and Pregnancy

kaimetcalfe's review

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

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

Minor: Pregnancy

cadence99's review

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

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

Moderate: Body horror and Blood

Minor: Abandonment

mossgoblins's review

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

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