Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin

27 reviews

alfarmer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

I don’t know what to say. This series was incredible. And devastating. And full of love and loss. I didn’t think I could love and hate every character in a story. Their flaws and reactions and lived experiences were expertly portrayed and I am not sure I will ever experience such whole characters again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Gore, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

crybabybea's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

N.K. Jemisin, your freaking mind. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Medical content

_cecilie_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.5

 I'm not usually in the habit of reading series back to back which is an indicator of how immensely intriguing and satisfying this sometimes fantasy sometimes sci-fi skewing trilogy was. After having read the conclusion I can now whole heartedly recommend it to anyone who likes darker themes in their fantasy reading, complex characters, themes of found family, parenthood (both human and cosmic), discussions of racism, prejudice and genocide mirroring our own human society. 
I'm not kidding when I say that when this trilogy gets dark, it can get DARK but the reading experience was extremely rewarding nonetheless and I may have shed some tears here and there.

Some other pros are: flawed but ultimately likable characters, great side characters that matter to the overall plot, LGBT representation and in general different types of love and relationships, POC representation, original and creative world building, and I'm sure I'm missing some other things.

Nitpicks: Sometimes the dialogue was almost too modern sounding which took me out of the story and there were times I wished the writing style had been a bit more straightforward about what was going on. And since we are talking about tiny complaints: I wish the earth had been called Mother and not Father Earth to show the vengeful love that motherhood can be as a coin of which the earth is one side and Essun is the other. But maybe there was a reason for Jemisin to write Father and I’m just predisposed to viewing earth as a mother? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, War, and Violence

abijmieds's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

I rarely give a final book 5 stars, but this book wrapped up the trilogy in such a memorable and satisfying way. You have to pay attention through the final third, but it really pays off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Child abuse, Colonisation, and Death

Moderate: Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Grief, Murder, Child abuse, Violence, War, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness

amyhasel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

I was in love with this series from the first page of the first book, and this finale is it. N. K. Jemisin is able to balance horror and humor like no one else - it manages to be realistic, gory, and then lighthearted in a moment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Death of parent, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Child death and Physical abuse

cdc95's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Violence, War, Grief, and Genocide

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

martinatan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.5

Really stuck the landing on this one!!! I was so skeptical reading through the middle part that the ending wouldn’t be satisfying but it turned out to be thrilling, heart wrenching, really intriguing and only a little confusing. I felt myself a little lost in the buildup of more lore every so often but that was more because I got distracted often while reading, and I had read The Obelisk Gate over a year ago. I think all the characters’ endings felt true to their character development, although

Lerna’s death was so surprising and sad and just a twist of the knife that felt it was done to in just further push how tragic Essun’s life has been as a mother and a partner

. But idk that’s my first impression having just read that scene 30 minutes ago. In terms of actual lore and thematic development as well as experimental writing style, this was a really spectacular conclusion overall to the trilogy and helped solidify the cohesiveness of all three books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Colonisation, Death of parent, and Death

Minor: Medical content, Slavery, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Violence

biobeetle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, Body horror, and Death of parent

Moderate: Murder and Medical trauma

Minor: Pregnancy and Terminal illness

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

What an end to this series. The world building was incredible though very complex. I will ceaselessly love all three of the main characters. Very sad too, especially with getting all the background information and how everything is built on racism and xenophobia. Important for the very same reason. 

Found Family, Complex Discussions of Racism

“No need for guards when you can convince people to collaborate in their own internment.”

“Well, some worlds are built on a fault line of pain, held up by nightmares. Don’t lament when those worlds fall. Rage that they were built doomed in the first place.”

“(It bothers her that she does this, watching him constantly for shifts of mood or warnings of tension. It is another thing she learned from Jija. She cannot seem to shed it with Schaffa, or anyone else.)”

“But there are none so frightened, or so strange in their fear, as conquerors. They conjure phantoms endlessly, terrified that their victims will someday do back what was done to them—even if, in truth, their victims couldn’t care less about such pettiness and have moved on. Conquerors live in dread of the day when they are shown to be, not superior, but simply lucky.”

“I think,” Hoa says slowly, “that if you love someone, you don’t get to choose how they love you back.”

“There are stages to the process of being betrayed by your society. One is jolted from a place of complacency by the discovery of difference, by hypocrisy, by inexplicable or incongruous ill treatment. What follows is a time of confusion—unlearning what one thought to be the truth. Immersing oneself in the new truth. And then a decision must be made.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Slavery, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Death of parent, Blood, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Death, Confinement, Cursing, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Xenophobia

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Death of parent, Body horror, Blood, Cursing, Classism, Violence, Murder, Medical trauma, Gore, Racism, Colonisation, Death, Xenophobia, War, and Racial slurs