Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

29 reviews

neni'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

 I had high expections for this book since everyone and their mothers seem to reccomend it highly. 

I must say, I knew it had dark themes, but I wasn’t prepared for just how dark and how pervasive the whole thing was. I think that’s what took down the enjoyment factor a bit for me, I get that life is hard in this universe, but I kinda hate when authors make us care for the main characters and then put them through nothing but pain and suffering for the whole book. I mean, can’t they be at least a little bit happy? lmao I totally recognize that’s a personal taste thing and not exactly a fault with the book. Maybe if I had read it at a different time in my life I would have felt another way, but I couldn’t help but get a little bit depressed everytime I read a new chapter. 

Other than that though, this book was pretty much impeccable. 

The writing style was beautiful and engaging, and somehow managed to create an incredibly emotional environment and deliver powerful feelings without being super flowery or descriptive, which I found impressive. It was to the point, but impactful? Quite unique from what I’ve been reading and a weirdly appropriate choice in a book thats about stone wielders. 

On that note, I think the greatest strength of the book is definitely the worldbuilding. The magic system (if it can even be described as magic, some cool natural phenomenon turned technology out of a sci-fi novel would be just as accurate to describe it) is superb in its complexity and originality. All of the rules and the way their powers work around them are fascinating to read about. 

The way the author organized the plot and the pacing was stellar as well. She did that super satisfying thing that authors do where the book starts with a bunch of different threads and timelines that seem disconnected but that get progressively closer to each other and it all comes to a head as this “everything is connected” climax. Pretty cool 

The character’s as well were nicely fleshed out. But again, thinking about them makes me sad lol 

Overall, a great read for fantasy and sci-fi fans alike. Was a tiny bit too sad and depressing for me to find extremely enjoyable, but still I don’t regret reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Child abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal death, Murder, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Vomit, and Xenophobia

vigil's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

what was that???!!??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Torture, Slavery, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Genocide, Cursing, Alcohol, Body horror, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Racism, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Child death, Blood, and Cannibalism

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Trafficking, Slavery, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Death, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Fire/Fire injury

boglord's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Classism, Confinement, and Sexual assault

berrit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Slavery

smiley_ari's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Slavery

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

Minor: Pregnancy

elica's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

laguerrelewis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I first got introduced to N.K. Jemisin through her work on Green Lantern Far Sector, and I thought “Wow! It’s incredible the breadth of themes and worldbuilding and larger concepts she’s included so efficiently!” Everything I loved about that and more was put into this book. I can EASILY see why this won a Hugo, and I can’t wait to read the sequels!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Genocide, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual content, and Sexism

Minor: Rape, Suicide attempt, and War

halcyonkathryn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Confinement, and Child abuse

Minor: Cannibalism, Transphobia, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury