Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

120 reviews

madimoss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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: War and Violence

Moderate: Cursing

snipinfool's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.25

This second book in the series took up where the first book left off. Essun, Hoa, Alabaster, Tonkee, and Lerna were living below ground in Castrima. Tensions continued as many of Castrima's residents were uneasy living with orogenes. The desolation above ground continued to threaten the lives of those barely surviving. Essun was reunited with and learned that Alabaster was responsible for the rift. He was slowly being turned to stone and eaten by the stone eater, Antimony, who cared for and protected Alabaster. Alabaster's fate was a consequence of the causing the rift and the current season. He hoped to be able to teach Essun what she needed to know to complete what he started. Alabaster wanted her to learn the special "magic" that allowed him to use the obelisks in the sky to complete the task. 

This book told the reader about what happened with Nassun and Jija. We learned in the first book that after Jija killed Uche, they left their village. No other information was given about them. Jija took them toward the south. When the rift hit, Nassun was able to save them by using her orogenic abilities. Jija was noticeably upset. He killed his son, Uche, when he suspected the child to be an orogene. Jija decided to take them to a place he heard could cure orogenes called, Found Moon. Once they arrived, the readers met up again with Schaffa, who was Essun's Guardian. He ran Found Moon with two other Guardians. Shaffa agreed to mentor Nassun and teach her how to improve her orogenic skills. Jija was led to believe that in order to be cured of orogeny, one must master the skills to an exceptional level. Jija allowed Nassun to train with the other young orogenes in order to master those skills and then expected her to cure herself.

Both Essun and Nassun learned and studied to improve their skills in hopes of changing the course of the season and allow those left to survive. Both used their skills to make changes, but they also created new problems for each to solve.

I read The Fifth Season at the beginning of the year and had forgotten so much more than I realized about the important details of the story. I found an online summary of that book that brought me back up to speed. I enjoyed The Obelisk Gate very much. The book was written the same style as in that it bounced back and forth between different different points of view. It wasn't as compelling as the the first book, but that is often the case. I am assuming this book was mostly about filling in the necessary information to take us to the final part of the story. I look forward to reading the final installment in the trilogy very soon so I don't have to scramble to remember the details necessary for this world and characters. I am very interested to see how this story ends.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Child death, Blood, Child abuse, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Violence

squidnamedfinger's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

almost as good as the first. really close. pacing falls just a BIT short in my eyes--understandably, being the second of a trilogy. Jemisin is excellent at driving the plot through the middle installment though. so many hard-hitting character moments and tense scenes play out in exciting ways, even if there's not as much that this book is juggling compared to the first.

the prose in this novel is even better than The Fifth Season, though. I found myself rereading certain passages several times over to glean the full depth of Jemisin's writing. the way she describes the sensations of magic use are exceptionally striking. 

her characters continue to shine through as well. Schaffa was a surprise hit with me, and Tonkee and Hjarka are my favorites in Castrima. 

very much looking forward to seeing how this series concludes. lots of tension still lingering even after the end of this installment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Racism, War, and Violence

biobeetle's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

Graphic: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Violence, War, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Abandonment, and Terminal illness

Minor: Chronic illness and Stalking

evelasco's review

dark emotional sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Hate crime, Murder, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Racism, and Child death

Moderate: Ableism, Gaslighting, Genocide, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cannibalism

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

3.75

This book is so full of big ideas, one of the most ambitious feats of literature I’ve read. I liked this one being a dual timeline with the daughter Nassun. Though part of it being in second person, although that person was obviously Essun or Hoa, felt a bit off to me. I’m sure plot wise perhaps in the third book it will make more sense as a choice. I just am not a fan overall of second person. 

Found Family, Duo POV, Second Person

“Like those weird cults that crop up from time to time. I heard of one that asks an old man in the sky to keep them alive every time they go to sleep. People need to believe there’s more to the world than there is.”

“The dreamer, the rebel, always reconsidering the way things have always been because maybe they should never have been that way in the first place.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, and Gaslighting

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Medical content, Body horror, and Blood

Minor: Cannibalism and Alcohol

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

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

“But if you stay, no part of this comm gets to decide that any part of this comm is expendable. No voting on who gets to be people.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Violence

Moderate: Child death and Abandonment

sproutedpages's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Murder, Death, Blood, Racial slurs, Child abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Child death and Grief

Minor: Cannibalism

Use of fictional, in-world racial slurs.