Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

72 reviews

vigil's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

what was that???!!??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Torture, Slavery, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Genocide, Cursing, Alcohol, Body horror, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Racism, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Child death, Blood, and Cannibalism

beldaran1224's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

5.0

I cannot rate this book highly enough. It starts off with a bang, and what exactly the bang was is something the book takes it's time getting to, and its GLORIOUS. The book is a masterpiece from a master of her craft, a book that manages to be both technically interesting and just a up-all-night-until-you-finish and why-didn't-I-pick-up-the-sequel-already kind of book.

If you're interested in what makes the book interesting from a technical standpoint: let's start with one of the perspectives being written in the second person ("you"). I've seen those who couldn't get past it, but the reveal of exactly who the narrator is is definitely worth it. Then there's the expert use of multiple perspectives. A first for me was the use of an interlude that really amped up the tension.

I'll say here that I mostly stick to my epic fantasies and don't venture into science fiction much, and while post-apocalyptic can be fun, I've never found one to rave about before now. This book manages to blur science fiction and fantasy seamlessly, all in a constantly-post-apocalyptic-but-also-currently-apocalyptic setting.

The setting is fascinating - a planet so unstable that its occupants suffer irregularly-scheduled climate-based apocalypse. This state of affairs has shaped everything about the way people interact with the world as well as themselves.

The magic system includes a clear sense of where someone falls in terms of power, and how magic works is explored and explained in great detail.

More than anything else though, this is a very intense book. There are a lot of heavy emotions being processed during the course of the book, and Jemisin manages to do this in a very authentic way. If you have trauma triggers, definitely review the CW section, because this book will put you through it.

Overall, the book manages to balance world-building, plot and character development exceptionally well. I don't think there's any notable flaws to this book at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Gaslighting, Genocide, and Grief

owlieali's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Slavery, and Child abuse

Moderate: Rape, Torture, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Violence, and Trafficking

Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Genocide

marta22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, and Hate crime

Minor: Cannibalism

rebeccajost's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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: Child death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Genocide, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape

Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit

pogue's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and War

christine_beatrice's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Genocide

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

Woah, that was intense. It took me a while to get into it first and get used to the writing. Just because the world building is so rich and dense and there is a lot you need to understand. But there are no info dumps, you basically have to learn along the way. It didn’t help that I only discovered the appendix when I was almost done with the book. 🙈 But it was fascinating from the very beginning and definitely worth it. I flew through the second half and couldn’t put it down. The characters are not the most likeable at first but I fell for them, hard. I went through hell and back and more hell with them and they’re basically family now. This is also probably the most diverse fantasy book I‘ve read so far. So many different ethnicities, body forms, hair structures, age groups, sexual orientations and even trans representation. So many different relationship types that are explored. And it‘s also written by a black woman. I‘m a fan! 

The story, uff, it‘s a lot. It’s brutal, disturbing, full of gore, death and physical as well as emotional abuse of children and adults. But it‘s basically about the end of the world, so… I would recommend to check the trigger warnings. On the other hand it deals with important topics like discrimination, oppression, slavery, destruction of the environment. It‘s a depressing story that feels too real. I could write a lot more and still not be able to fully express what this book has done to me. It wrecked me and gave me hope and broke my heart and devastated me. Can‘t wait to read the rest of the trilogy… 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Cannibalism and Pregnancy

byrdies's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Body horror

heartbrekker's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Slavery, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Vomit