Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - The Fifth Season

Honestly I wasn't obsessed with this book in the beginning, but as the story developed I fell in love with this world and this book. The worldbuilding is intricate and detailed while staying comprehensible.

Getting to follow Essun at different stages of her life and seeing her understanding of her world and her oppressors was just so genius!

I loved this book.

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aniguy11's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense

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? It's complicated

4.75

So so good. Great world-building, great characters, great punches to the stomach. Didn't like the sex stuff, but that's me.

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maeverose's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

TL;DR: The story is really good, but the ‘trans rep’ is offensive, and it’s extremely dark just for the sake of it at times.

I think this book is incredibly creative and original, and has important commentary on race and colonialism, told through a fantasy lens. I didn’t end up enjoying the book, so this review is mostly negative, but I’d still recommend the book if you can handle the content and can look past the transphobia.

First, I think if you’re going to include something as sensitive as sexual assault and rape, especially happening to children, it needs to have an important reason to be there. In this book I felt that those things in particular were there mostly for shock value. It really wasn’t necessary to take it as far as she did, and it bothered me.

Second, the way the trans character Tonkee is represented I found to be offensive. Not only is she frequently described as being smelly and unclean when no one else is, leading me to believe N.K Jemisin sees trans women as gross, but there’s also this line in a scene when she’s taking a bath in front of Essun (I don’t really understand why she did that in the first place but ok):

“You’re a little surprised to see a penis somewhere amid this process, but, well, not like any comm’s going to make her a Breeder.”

I could be misunderstanding, but the only reasons I can think of for why she would’ve included that comment would be to say that trans people are undesirable, or to point out that Tonkee can’t get pregnant, ‘but no matter, because she’s too ugly to be made a breeder anyway’. Either way, both of those statements are offensive and have nothing to do with what’s happening in the scene. Why would Essun’s mind immediately go to thinking about her undesirability or inability to get pregnant after finding out she’s trans? That felt transphobic to me. Also the fact that the two trans characters in the book (one isn’t even named) are introduced as being trans by describing their genitals, which perpetuates the idea that thinking about/asking what’s in a trans person’s pants is okay... it’s none of your business and it’s irrelevant to their gender identity. I really don’t understand the people praising this book for having trans characters… Tonkee isn’t even a main or important character hardly, and Essun seems to see her as an annoyance the entire time.

I don’t know if the offensive way Tonkee was represented was intentional or not, but it really doesn’t sit well with me and kind of ruined my experience of the book, which sucks because it is a really good story besides that.

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valent1ne's review against another edition

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4.5

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carleesi's review against another edition

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4.0

Enthralling story with amazing world building. I had some trouble keeping up with the lore/magic/characters but I’ve already got the second book because I have to know what happens next.

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genny's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

Best book I've read so far in 2022! I agree with reviews saying it's best to go into this knowing as little as possible. Worldbuilding, atmosphere, character development, even the science behind the magic...amazing, all of it. Do be aware of the content warnings.

I admit I was intimated by the writing style at first, thinking "am I smart enough to get this?"...but it's quite accessible once you've gotten used to it. Jemisin doesn't really explain any of the lore, you just gradually pick it up as you go (there's an appendix, but as always, I never bother). It didn't feel "info-dumpy". I appreciated this, actually! Like she wasn't holding my hand through it, but gave me enough context to understand. This is in stark contrast to Brandon Sanderson's writing style in Warbreaker (I'm only comparing because I finished that right before this one) wherein he plainly explains the magic system like the mechanics of a video game. So: patience is needed, but it'll pay off.

The use of second-person POV in Essun's chapters was a perfect choice! It adds so much to the story, in my opinion. Damaya's chapters were my favorite. I'm proud to say that I figured out the plot twist before I hit the halfway mark, ha. I'm sure other readers figured it out even faster than I did, but I'm usually late to pick up on clues, so I felt insanely validated. 😆 The reveal of

the narrator

, though? I didn't see that coming and it gave me goosebumps, geez. Everything came together beautifully. I am so glad I gave this book a chance!

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