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dragon_s_hoard's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Suicide attempt, Torture, War, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, Infertility, Abandonment, Ableism, Confinement, Lesbophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Sexism, Stalking, and Terminal illness
booksjessreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I will admit that it took me about 2-3 chapters to fully get going. I listened to the audiobook and I also felt like whilst I was listening in the first couple of chapters, I did miss key details about the world-building, but just continued listening. I felt like as I went through the story, this didn't matter too much and I thought I had a good grip of the world by the middle of the book. I have bought a physical copy so that next time I read, I read the print copy to annotate those extra details.
Genuinely, the conjunction between structural racism and generational ships in Matilda was my favourite part about the whole thing and thought the crafting of this world was done extremely well. I saw some 'critics reviews' that said the 'many layers of metaphor' and 'worldbuilding by poetry' disappointed readers that wanted hard science fiction, but this is what I loved most. The poetic language only heightened the worldbuilding and reading between the lines made it all the more real for the reader. Although, I understand this is not to everyone's taste.
I am of the opinion of other reviews where the ending does feel slightly rushed and there were some things that could have been explored in some more depth for me, but I still really enjoyed the story anyway! I felt the pace really picks up about half way through, and that it was a very packed ending in the last few chapters.
It is very rare I want a book to be longer, but I wish it was so that there could be so many more things added. I thought the book was excellent as it was anyway, not just because of the worldbuilding, but the ending, for me, was unexpected. I just wish that themes could have been explored more. I just never really wanted the book to end.
I would recommend this book 100%! I think it was an amazing experience, especially listening to the audio as it just brought everything to life. Before reading though, please read the trigger warnings, as there are a lot of graphic triggers in this book.
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Suicide
necromandy's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Abortion, Ableism, Death, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual assault
Moderate: Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Cursing, Confinement, Classism, Blood, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Infertility
booksthatburn's review against another edition
I really wish I could handle finishing this, but I just can't.
Graphic: Violence, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Pregnancy, Death, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Ableism, Homophobia, Cursing, Abortion, Mental illness, Blood, Infertility, Child abuse, and Cancer
Minor: Transphobia, Dementia, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Death of parent, Self harm, and Fire/Fire injury
peachani's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Classism, Genocide, Physical abuse, Violence, Bullying, Transphobia, Death, Lesbophobia, and Police brutality
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Genocide, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Chronic illness, and Confinement
Minor: Dysphoria, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Ableism, Death of parent, Gore, Infertility, Medical trauma, War, Child abuse, and Slavery
tenten's review against another edition
aside from that, i just can't connect with it like i feel myself not caring. i read some reviews that point out how wild it is that Aster and other lowdeckers insult, physically attack, and disrespect upperdeckers and guards without much real consequence, which makes the stakes seem lower than they're presented to be.
i might pick it up again because Rivers Solomon won me over with their story, "Whose Heart I Long to Stop with the Click of a Revolver," but i'm dropping it for now
Graphic: Slavery, Sexual assault, and Racism
Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent, Homophobia, Self harm, Infertility, and Suicide
silver_lining_in_a_book's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racism, Rape, and Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Misogyny
Minor: Medical content, Infertility, and Abortion
blockieran's review against another edition
- 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
The representation is everything I want in one book. Labels aren't explicitly stated (mostly because they don't exist in this world) but there is a black queer intersex character who seems to be autistic and a trans character with OCD and they own my heart. I want to keep reading forever because it hurts to leave them behind.
Be warned: I thought this was mainly an adventure story with discrimination as a background setting. It's very much in your face though.
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, and Drug use
booknerd85's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence
xoodlebooks's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Transphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Vomit
Minor: Infertility