Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

2 reviews

nixieba25f's review against another edition

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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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nytephoenyx's review

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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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