Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

37 reviews

proceduralbob's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Sexual content, Body horror, Slavery, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, and Child death

onyxkat's review against another edition

adventurous fast-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

Minor: Colonisation, Death, Grief, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Murder, Xenophobia, Racism, and Violence

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

bookslumper's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Body horror, Police brutality, Confinement, Racial slurs, Torture, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, and Genocide

zoiejanelle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

best adult fantasy book i have read to date. a book about what it means to become a parent, to lose a child, and to sacrifice everything for love. an allegory for blackness in the U.S. really cool magic system, great writing (once things picked up) and emotional twists. highly recommend to all fantasy lovers! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Child death, Death, Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Classism, Genocide, Pregnancy, Slavery, Violence, Colonisation, Gore, Hate crime, Medical content, Racism, and Vomit

Moderate: War, Torture, and Sexual content

purplepenning's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Rape, Slavery, Vomit, Sexual content, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Blood, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, and Eating disorder

Minor: Cannibalism and Pregnancy

gogoisopodranger's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Racism, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Classism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Medical trauma, and War

prettiestwhistles's review

dark emotional tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Child death, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Colonisation, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: War and Pregnancy

vasha's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Violence, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Slavery, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Racism, and Child death

Moderate: Vomit, Colonisation, Ableism, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Trafficking

Minor: Cannibalism, Transphobia, and Homophobia

geekywoman14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

There are some very heavy parts to this book, but they add to the story in such a way I don't think it would be possible to omit them in any way. There is a transperson in the book, but they do not experience, at least not that is mentioned in major detail, dysmorphia. There is a brief mention of transphobia when

their parents quietly disown them, only in part because they are transgender, not the primary reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Slavery, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Colonisation, and Confinement

Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, Classism, Pedophilia, Stalking, Abandonment, Animal death, and Sexual violence