Reviews

The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin

mimi_lore's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

rickwren's review against another edition

5.0

Crazy talent that NK Jemisin has. Serious!

She created a fantasy series that reads like mythology. It's a story that mothers tell daughters to explain the way the world works. There are Gods and there are humans and they mix in a morality tale that explores our motivations.

Is Ehiru a murderer or a compassionate deliverer? What is right and wrong? How does it work?

The world-building is stunning.

Talent . . . I'll say it again . . . Crazy Talent.

kford424's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

Took me a while to get into it but I do like NK Jemisin's voice and worldbuilding

annarod's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.75

led's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

sinamile's review against another edition

5.0

CW/TW: death, murder, blood, vomiting, graphic description of violence, graphic description of gore, mention of sex, mention of slavery, mention of sexual assault/rape, seizures, threats of war, torture, mental health issues, mention of animal death, knife/knife violence, imprisonment, mention of parental death, violent parenal death, child death, mention of/allusion to underage sex, allusion to pedophilia, ethnicism, starvation, physical abuse, assisted suicide

N. K. Jemisin's writing is top notch and I love it so much. The way in which she creates her stories, the way she puts together her mythology. It makes it all come alive and makes it all feel so real and tangible. I love it. We stan!

kimberussell's review against another edition

4.0

I used to think I was bored by fantasy novels, but I think I was bored of elves-and-dwarves-and-orcs, LordAndLadyofWoodyWood, boy magical prodigy fantasy novels.

This one? This was was really really good.

So sure, there's magic and religion and war, and it's set on another planet, but this one is different because its grounded in African religions and lore.

It took me a while to get in the swing of things, but once I got the hang of who is who and who did what (and found the glossary in the back of the book) it picked up. I'd get grumpy when my train ride ended and I had to put it away. And I ended up reading the last 150 pages in one sitting.

For those keeping score, the Book Riot Quarterly "try reading new things" box is now 2 for 2.

zellreads's review against another edition

5.0

Beautifully written, exactly what one would expect from Jemisin. Her work is truly epic in scope and richly detailed.

ghmeier's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

valkyrior's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5