Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Ariah by B.R. Sanders

5 reviews

livelaughlesbian99's review

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.25

I LOVED this book. If you want a sprawling epic fantasy, this is it. If you want polyamory and queer worldbuilding, this is it. If you want good worldbuilding, this is it.
My only complaints are: the worldbuilding is not always easy to follow. I wish we spent more time in the many settings of the novel developing the atmosphere of them.

If you plan on reading, here is a little guide so you can follow worldbuilding from early on. Light spoilers but not that ruin the reading:

Qin: Humans who rule the Empire
Semadran: Silver elves. Seem to be native to Empire land. Sometimes called tinks as a slur
Red Elves: Athenorkos. Seem to be native to land beyond empire.
Nahsiyya: Mixed heritage elves
There are also other kinds of elves you will see

Shaper: A power that allows for mind reading and partial mind control. In the Empire if you are declared a Shaper you probably won’t be able to safely cross a  border. In elven communities you cannot marry, though you will be respected. The power is a great burden.
Charms: Common ability of red elves. Can cause people to experience false emotions or see things they didn’t (which is called mirroring)

Happy reading!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, Violence, Xenophobia, Slavery, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual assault

jaybird_reads's review

adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A wonderful creation of fantasy cultures and settings, and an exploration of different forms of intimacy that I haven’t seen in any other book.

It takes a moment to be pulled into the narrative style, but it’s well worth the read! Once you get to Sorcha everything is great. The book is far more character driven than plot driven, but we are shown a vast amount of the fantasy world that Sanders has created.

Main gripe is a lack of strong female characters. Lots of gay men but no gay women, let alone women that actually talk to each other. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Slavery, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Violence, and Drug use

Minor: Animal death

natroze's review

I really wanted to like this, because all the themes are right up my alley, but the chaotic pacing and sheer lack of depth of descriptions of the setting and the world made it feel liminal and transient in a bad way. Compelling concepts, but felt overall under-developed for my taste. It felt more like reading an extremely long summary of events than an actual narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug use, Biphobia, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Racism, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Slavery, Abandonment, Biphobia, Drug use, Grief, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

Minor: Confinement, Blood, and Cursing

Re: sexual assault/rape and gaslighting—all of this happens due to magical charm effects/abilities Re: racism/xenophobia/slavery—against fictional fantasy races (elves, of all skin tones and multiple cultural groups); racism and slavery perpetrated by humans against elves, xenophobia in general occurs between various elven and non-elven characters who don’t understand each other’s customs.

rattification's review

adventurous emotional 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

I'm so glad that I picked up this book - Ariah is a story full of adventure, love, and an amazingly built world. The details of the story felt perfect every time. This will be a favorite for a long time!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Trafficking, Sexual content, Racism, and Homophobia

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

wasp's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Death of parent, Slavery, and Homophobia

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, Animal death, Pregnancy, and Blood

Minor: Torture