Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

40 reviews

kennim's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Pros:
-The writing
-The wordbuilding
-The characters, particularly Serapio and Xiala
-The pacing
-The magic system/religions

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Self harm

Moderate: Genocide

Minor: Homophobia

drlove2018's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.75

One of the most intense and compelling fantasy/speculative fiction books I’ve ever read, incredible world building and detailed cultural context. The beginning has some body horror, but once you get past that the violence is not as graphic/explicit (except for one scene near the middle), and it never feels gratuitous or sensationalist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Genocide, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicide, and Xenophobia

ayvie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Death, Violence, Physical abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Genocide, Torture, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

pendletca's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicide, Violence, and War

shanekate's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Murder, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Genocide, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

solenekeleroux's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Xenophobia, Genocide, Violence, Gore, Body horror, Death, Suicide, Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

Moderate: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Confinement

nicnevin's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I found the book very interesting but some bits more interesting than others. Xiala and Serapio were my favourites tbh. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Animal death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Violence, and Xenophobia

llyfrauginger's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Murder, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, Cursing, Genocide, and Suicide

amandadevoursbooks'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

It took me 150 pages to get into it. I'm so glad I kept reading. The world immersive. The characters distinct. The cultures reflected by the characters are fascinating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Genocide, War, Racism, and Xenophobia

andromeda_1998's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Black sun is different from most books I read before. This adult fantasy novel has a different flow, a different feeling than most books in its genre and it does it’s job splendidly. But why does this book work?

Characters 
Through the book we follow 4 different characters. A sun priest, a pirate, a chosen one and a warrior. 
The sun priest, Naranpa, is a 33 year old woman devoted to the sungod. She once to make the temple into a place of healing and power for Tova (the city she lives in). I didn’t really like her point of view. I found her to be a bid bland and boring. Her POV was necessary though to tell the story and I would not have liked the book without her. 

A pirate, Xiala, Xiala is my favorite character. She’s bi, wild and fierce. She is a woman you don’t want to cross. 

A chosen one, Serapio, his story is an interesting one. I cannot tell you if this character is the hero or the villain of the story and that is why I like this book. I like that he is morally grey. 

A warrior, Okoa, we get to know him later in the story and while I didn’t not hate him as a character, I also didn’t like him. I find his type to be a bit boring but I know that he is the kind of character that others will love. 

Worldbuilding 
The worldbuilding is done splendidly. Throughout the book and by different pov’s we get to know this beautiful meso American inspired world. The world has magic but it isn’t a common practice. 

Writing 
The writingstyle takes some getting use to. The book stars slow and doesn’t follow the western way of pacing. I would recommend to not dnf this book in a early stage. Just read through it. 

I would recommend this book to adult readers (years 20+) the story isn’t necessarily brutal but the book has some adult themes better fitted to this category. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Death, Gore, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Blood, and Confinement