Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

43 reviews

oceanw1's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Genocide, Sexual content, Suicide, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lucystolethesky's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Genocide, Sexism, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

peachani's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.25

Oh wow, did I enjoy this book! I was a bit worried at first; not being that into fantasy after teen and young adulthood, I can get bored in the opening chapters of a book. Since this was a book club read, I persevered and eventually, the world Rebecca Roanhorse created drew me in. By the halfway point, I was fully invested. When I got to the last page, I actually yelled "Oh my God!" What a cliffhanger.

I appreciated getting to see a fantasy world set in Mesoamerica. I am not any more than superficially knowledgeable about the people that lived in that world, so I wasn't able to recognize specific tribes in the writing, but I did notice little details like pyramids and such.

I found myself being totally drawn into the love story between two main characters and was truly heartbroken when there was no way for them to be together... so technically, you could say this book is better than Romeo and Juliet in that sense.😂

These days, the true test of whether I really enjoyed a book is if I want to buy a physical copy of it. I absolutely want Black Sun in my personal, physical library.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Pedophilia, Racism, and Trafficking

genny's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Re-read before I jump into the sequel! I gave this 5 stars back in 2020, and I'm giving it 5 stars again in 2022. 💘 I'm mad at myself for not taking notes both times, but I was too engrossed in the story to bother.

The first chapter is one of the best openings I've ever read. The worldbuilding is lush, immersive, and yet never confusing. I think this would be a great starting point for beginners to adult fantasy! Because we're counting down to the solstice, there's this constant heavy feeling in the background, like the characters are being pushed faster and faster towards an inevitable...Something. It makes for a great atmosphere, and I personally had no problem with the somewhat open ending. It just felt right to me. But if you hate cliffhangers, get your hands on the sequel ASAP. 😉 All of the major characters have their flaws, but IMO they're all likable and I felt invested in each POV. I absolutely love Xiala and Serapio, individually and together. They have my whole heart!!!

To summarize: Black Sun has great characters, great worldbuilding, and a great plot. This is a criminally underrated series and I can only hope it draws a bigger following as it continues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement and Genocide

Minor: Death of parent

mikki_9's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? No

5.0

I am beyond words. I love this book. LOVE.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Genocide, Suicide, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual content

achingallover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

ehmannky's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

I found the first half of the book to be kind of a slow start as all of the world building is put into place and you get acquainted to the many different point of view characters and their situations (this is not a criticism of either, it just takes time to do this), but once you hit that halfway mark it just zooms right along. I couldn't put it down. The political intrigue, the wild religious stuff and the cult magic, the wonderful relationship between Serapio and Xiala, and everything that Naranpa was up to was just so much fun to read. I feel like the tragedy of being the subject of prophecy and the person everyone puts their hopes on to save (or break) the world was just so up front and center, and I can't wait to read the next installment. 

Among the many things that I appreciated about this book, beyond it just being a really good epic fantasy, is that the world is so effortlessly queer.

 

It was just as good the second time around! I still didn't care about the Okoa chapters that much, but overall this is such a good series.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Biphobia, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexism, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Vomit

christalbotheindl's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, and Death of parent

melissajohnson2017's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Death of parent

Minor: Genocide

kristenelle's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.0

I was super looking forward to this one mostly because it is set in the pre-Columbian americas and also because the cover is quite stunning. I ended up feeling a little let down. It was fine and had some things going for it, but I didn't feel very attached to the story or characters. The pace was slow at times and the character development was boring. The world is the most interesting part of this story. I wish I loved it more. I'm not sure if I'll continue the series.

Sexual violence? I don't remember any. Other triggers? Child abuse, animal abuse, murder.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Genocide, and Death of parent