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I knew going into chapter 21 (beginning of part three) that it was going to be brutal, but it was so so much worse than I anticipated, and honestly really overshadowed the rest of the book for me. Yes, I think it was all written incredibly well, and RFK is an incredible author, and it was necessary to the story. But it was still just... a lot. I don't think any of this was trauma porn, but it was so much more brutal than I thought it would be. I thought based on reviews I'd seen from people I trust, and from my love for SoK that this would be a for sure 5 star, or maybe like a 4.5, but after part three it's closer to a 3/3.5I may change my rating at some point, but for now that's where I landed.
If you are someone who enjoys war fantasies and you're aware of the trigger/content warnings, I think this can be a fantastic book. Like I said, it was incredibly well written and didn't feel like the violence was just being depicted for the sake of violence. At this moment I'm not sure I'll continue with the series, but I do think that despite my hesitancy and lack of love for this in the end, RFK is an excellent writer and I'm glad I experienced that regardless of my final thoughts.
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Grief, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Rape, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Xenophobia, Murder, Colonisation, War