Reviews

The Empress by S.J. Kincaid

clesh01's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

bluejaybooks's review against another edition

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4.0

Original Text: So much happened so fast! Review to come. I just need to sort out all these feelings first. So hard to decide...
Spoiler Review:
SpoilerAs you may have guessed from my discussion, I am still not sure how I feel about this book.

The first half is super awesome and I loved it. One of the things that bothered me about the world building in the last book was that the characters have all of this advanced technology but no one knew anything about science because science was forbidden.

In this book we have an answer. It’s explained so well, and I love the author’s idea for a space-faring society that regressed to the point where a ten-year-old today might know more about physics than the society’s emperor.

It’s the second half that left me conflicted.

It was so heartbreaking to first see Tyrus during the second half, mostly because it was hard to see Nemesis’s heart breaking. It made me realize how much I’d come to care for her, but it also hurt to see her so distraught.

I think the other thing I didn’t like about the way this book ended is that the second half almost seemed to undo the progress made in the first half. The characters made so many discoveries, but those discoveries were invalidated when most of what they discovered got destroyed.

I’m also surprised by how much I disliked the romance ending the way it did. Usually, I would love the female protagonists to have more agency and realize they don’t need a guy or, in some cases, that the guy is essentially abusing them, but seeing such a drastic change in the love interest just hurt too much.

Yet another example of how much I’ve come to care for these characters.

In the end, I suspect much of how I feel about this book will be influenced by the course book three takes.

allygatr's review against another edition

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4.0

good plot developments, I just don't really feel all that attached to any character

kstanpadg's review against another edition

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3.0

way too complicated

clockworkbook's review against another edition

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4.0

Content/Trigger Warning: Drug Use, Drug Addiction, Cutting, Depression, Mental Illness, Grief

izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition

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2.0

2.5/5

Alright at first I wasn’t excited to go into this book because I felt like it wasn’t really a sci fi but I did enjoy the characters. Half way through the book it started to get really interesting then at the end it pulled some sort of 360 twist that I did not see coming. Which of course now makes me want to read the sequel, which I have close at hand

8lueminn0w's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 ⭐️

asami_kukomi's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Oh my god. What a ride.

It's been seven years since I originally read the first book and I was not expecting this book to have such a chokehold on me.

It's held up really well and I was happy I was still able to enjoy this YA space opera.

I just want to say I called it with Neveni, but I was fully at the mercy of S.J Kincaid the last part of the book. I didn't know what was real and what wasn't, I was as shook as Nemesis. My emotions were played with and it was great.

wavemack's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

this book is great i just HATED the ending 

jeannakedrowski's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75