Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

9 reviews

sshabein's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.5

I don't know that this was wholly for me, but NK Jemisin is a great enough writer (and I've enjoyed many of her other books) that I may still read the next book in the series at some point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Cannibalism

cleot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Jemisin's worldbuilding is flawless as always but this series isn't my favorite of hers. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Body horror, Sexual content, Torture, Gore, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Minor: Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, and Cannibalism

daniella_lo's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring 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

Beautiful, challenges ideas of what makes a god and a mortal, what makes us human

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Torture, and Classism

Minor: Cannibalism, Incest, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, and Suicide

nixieba25f's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Body horror, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Bullying, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Death, Genocide, Slavery, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Murder, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, War, Torture, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, and Violence

carolined314's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Grief, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent, Stalking, Colonisation, Death, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Incest, Violence, Confinement, and Bullying

Minor: Genocide, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, and Child abuse

misszoe's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, Drug use, Racism, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent and Death

Minor: Cannibalism

nytephoenyx's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I really, really enjoy N.K. Jemisin’s writing. Her worlds are broken and explosive, and her characters so multifaceted. I enjoyed the Broken Earth trilogy, but I liked The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms even more.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is a book about how power corrupts, the danger of jealousy, the fallacies of gods, and the prejudice of humanity. It’s a story about vengeance on many different tiers – personal, familial, and even immortal. I was sucked in by the book, even if it was a bit of a slow read. It was worth it the patience for the depth and darkness it provided.

Jemisin has a way of creating characters that are more flaw than virtue, but you still adore. Yeine is angry, selfish, driven, strong, arrogant, reckless, and utterly interesting. Her quest for answers is the minor plot of the book – she wants to know why her mother left Sky and who killed her. Sieh and Nahadoh rank in my list of favorite characters of all time – there are so many different layers to each of them. So much pain, nostalgia, joy, charm, vulnerability, desire, hope, anger, despair… I could go on. These characters were two sides of a coin for me. Sieh’s childish hope counterbalanced Nahadoh’s desperate need perfectly. They’re also compelling, interesting characters. Too big for their bodies, in a very literal way. Loved them.

I believe the marketing of this book is a little misleading about its content since it’s far more complex than it appears. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is marketed as a YA epic fantasy. I would strongly disagree that it’s a YA book – it’s somewhere in the New Adult range more accurately. Yeine is young – nineteen, I believe – but she is older emotionally than her physical age because of her upbringing. There are definitely adult themes in this book and while I’m sure many individuals in the YA audience could handle it, I really think this is not a YA book. In terms of fantasy… well, yes, okay. It’s a fantasy world. Beyond the magic and theology, it’s a mystery story with the feel of urban fantasy. The world building is akin to epic fantasy, but that’s it. And it’s still really good – don’t let this deter you! It’s just not quite as I assumed before reading.

The mystery plot was a bit uncomplicated. There was a last minute twist at the end of the book I wasn’t expecting, but otherwise, I was so invested in the theological aspects of the story that I generally found Yeine’s insistence of digging up her mother’s past to be a distraction from more interesting things. The real story here, for me, was the tale of the three original gods and I loved it. I’m so glad this is a trilogy because I want more of this story. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms reads like a standalone book – there’s a satisfying enough end that you can stop if you want, but why on earth would you want to stop?

This is a book I am definitely going to buy in hardcopy. I could easily get lost in this dark and convoluted world. I will be reading on in the trilogy, and likely, I will reread The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms again someday in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: War and Grief

Minor: Body shaming, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, and Rape

overbooked207's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

📖 The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin Book Review 📖

8th book of January 2022 and 8th of the year:

I finally finished this big book! Once again the story, social commentary, dialogue, scheming and brutal fight scenes, and lore/magic systems were fantastic in an N.K. Jemisin novel! The characters and world were so fleshed out and complex, and I felt like I was right there in the world with them. The audiobook was beautifully done, as were The Broken Earth trilogy audiobooks, and I’m excited to continue reading and re-reading the rest of N.K. Jemisin’s books! TW for murder, death, torture, rape, slavery, explicit sexual content, violence, incest, mentioned cannibalism, body horror, death of a parent, confinement, human sacrifice, racism, war, gore, body horror, vomit, sexual violence, medical content/trauma, misogyny, abuse, alcohol/drug use, classism, colonization, torture, injury detail, infidelity, and grief📚🎧

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Rape, Confinement, Body horror, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Alcohol, Colonisation, Medical content, War, Grief, Vomit, Classism, Sexual content, Gore, Sexism, Drug use, Animal death, Murder, Incest, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Infidelity, Blood, Emotional abuse, Death, Slavery, Violence, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Bullying, Death of parent, Racism, and Kidnapping

coffinfinite's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-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

After struggling to find a book that gripped me for some time, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was a welcome re-discovery. I vaguely remembered reading it in 2015 and enjoying it, so I picked it up again and was swept away in a fast paced, vivid adventure set in a terrifying fantasy world where a single family wields power with an iron fist bestowed upon them by the "true God" of the Bright. The depiction of enslaved Godlings and political machinations set against a backdrop of the Sky, a beautiful but deadly seat of power, kept me entranced from start to finish. Our heroine, Yeine, is dropped into an impossible-to-win power struggle for the throne of Sky,  and her only allies are the unpredictable and at times unfathomable Enefadeh, broken Godlings who have a plan of their own when it comes to the succession of power. As the story unfolds with flashbacks and dream sequences alongside the fortnight of terror Yeine must endure as the day of the succession draws near, Jemisin's beautiful prose kept me spellbound to the very end. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy - and perhaps even to those who find the genre dubious.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, and Slavery

Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Murder, and Religious bigotry