Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

19 reviews

barda's review

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content

utopiaandmelancholy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-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

This book was unstoppable, it had so much drive and momentum, and manages to really builds on the existing explanations of the world and its magic system as well.  Every chapter was compelling, I loved the relationships developing between the characters, the intensity of feeling, whatever the emotion. I read the second half in pretty much one sitting. Just fantastic writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Violence, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Medical content, War, Genocide, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol

cdc95's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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: Kidnapping and Child abuse

Moderate: Murder and War

Minor: Sexual content and Child death

gandalf_a's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Terminal illness, and Medical content

Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, War, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Sexual content

leguinstan's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

I am just amazed at how this series breathes new life into the epic fantasy genre AND the apocalyptic genre. The magic system is unlike anything I've read in other fantasy novels and the world-building is beautifully done *chef's kiss*. You really get a good sense of how the setting influences the behavior of individuals and the social mores of larger communities. I have a hard time picturing any of the characters existing in other fictional universes.

One of my biggest pet peeves in (post-)apocalyptic stories is the abundance of cartoonishly self-serving characters. I'm happy to say this is very much NOT the case in this series. While several character act in a self-serving manner I never got the sense that any of these characters were inherently selfish and each individual self-serving act is understandable considering the past experiences and current circumstances of these aforementioned characters.

I also love how there are not just two, but several groups in this novel with opposing goals and priorities. It's not just Essun and her allies vs. a singular group in direct opposition to her plans. I also really like that we got a better understanding of the stone eaters in this novel.

My only complaint about The Obelisk Gate in particular is that the pacing drags during the many discussions between Essun and Alabaster. Luckily the relationship and history between the two characters are absolutely fascinating and their discussions are very relevant to the plot. Regardless, a fantastic follow-up to The Fifth Season!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Genocide, Body horror, Racism, Child abuse, and Cannibalism

Minor: Ableism and Sexual content

The racism is fantastical in nature and has very little to do with our real-world understanding of race. Ableism: so this is an apocalyptic setting and there is talk of physically disabled characters being a drain on resources and not contributing as much to the survival of their communities. Not a major theme in the novel, but it does come up several times. Cannibalism

aniguy11's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.0

Less good than the first one, yet still devestating and interesting

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Slavery, and Sexual content

cptnstphy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.5

Such a mastery of crafting the characters and plot to thicken and grow in complexity over time. The reader is trusted with increasingly complex, interesting, unbelievably imaginative worlds of magic and oregeny, and it's such a delicious reading experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Violence, Child death, Gore, and War

Moderate: Grief, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol, Genocide, Blood, Pregnancy, Confinement, Slavery, and Sexual content

cryosphinx's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

Kind of slumpy compared to the first book. The first one follows three characters and this one cuts that down to two (it does have a third, briefly) and it slows down the plot but makes up with it with character growth and world building. A lot of things get answered about the world and how the magic works and all the Guardians, Stone Eaters and orogenes exist. Since the plot doesn't move quite as much as Book 1, there is a lot more dialogue and I found it quite slow in the first half so be prepared for that.

Hoa definitely becomes the most interesting character aside from the main two. I do love the found family, depictions of grief and trauma and Jemisin's prose is still so beautifully written, there were times where I just read a passage over and over to fully observe how lovely it was written. You also get more informed of Essun's time in with her family, though it's told from the perspective of Nassun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Child abuse, Cursing, and Child death

Minor: Bullying, Cannibalism, and Sexual content

readingelli's review

adventurous dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Grief, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Child death

farleighelse's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

expands on stone eaters. more on what happens during a season and how it affects environment.

a guardian lost, losing his original drive. starts to care for oregones. Fucked up moon.

child abuse and trauma. multiple POVs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Child death, Racism, and Child abuse

Moderate: Cannibalism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Hate crime

Minor: Sexual content and Torture