Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Destroyer of Light

While I found this book interesting, especially for about the first third of the story, there were a couple of problems with the writing and narrative that made it impossible for me to give this book over three stars and recommend it broadly to others. The first, and most immediately apparent, was the writing style. This book reads, at points, as almost fanfiction-y, oscillating wildly between being incredibly verbose and overly simplistic, often directly stating characters feelings. At first I thought that this was because of the shifting perspectives and in part that seems to be the case, but then there are chapters in which, within the chapter, the style shifts in this same way. Overall, it seems somewhat amateur-ish and the story would have been much improved by taking to heart the writing advice we have all recieved, to "show not tell." Secondly, the pacing of the ending goes completely off the rails and I wish we would have spent more time examining both what actually happened to Cora at the end of the book and the impacts of it. As it is now, readers see the world radically change without a strong understanding of what that changing actually entails. If we had spent more time world-building earlier on in the novel this fast paced ending could have felt more earned because readers would have understood what was happening, but as it is not I think some kind of change needed to be made. Finally, the depiction of graphic sexual violence against a child was somewhat excessive. While I understood the need for the description of this violence's occurance for the reader's understanding of Cora's choices late in the novel, the graphicness of this depiction seemed a bit too gratuitous and I wish there would have been some distancing of the reader from this violence. I understand the potential arguments one could make for the detailed depiction of this violence in some cases, but in this instance it felt unnecessary and I wish that the author would have portrayed the violence in a different way, as I think that the gravity of those experiences could have been understood through less detailed description.

As a side note, I feel that this book being pitched as a Hades and Persephone retelling only does a disservice to this book. People who come to this novel looking for a Hades and Persephone retelling will not get it, please look into the actual content of the book. While this didn't bother me, I could see how someone may feel like they are not getting the story they were sold.

Content Warnings

story_goblin's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

This book is very intense. It’s about finding our own voice through everything that has happened to us. Despite the way she was raised, despite the abuse she suffered, through it all, the protagonist made her own decision in the end. Due to some of my own experiences, it was important to me to see her choose which aspects of her upbringing and abuse to reject and which aspects to mold into her chosen self. I am generally wary of stories that involve abuse because most oversimplify the healing process and/or over-focus on the trauma. This book did neither of those things. It does not pull punches about her abuse, but it also does not spend pages detailing the horrific details. It does not victim-blame, but it does allow the victim to be a complex, complicated person. Who are is not solely dependent on what happened to us, nor is what happened to us insignificant in the crafting of ourselves.

Content Warnings

kndavis's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

northernzephyr's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

thereadingskeleton's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

Rep: Black MC (plus many other BIPOC characters), nonbinary characters (of an alien race with different gender than humans, use xe/xyr pronouns)

Comprised of three interwoven stories and told in a nonlinear fashion, Destroyer of Light takes place on the planet Eleusis, where the remains of humanity relocated after alien conquerors destroyed Earth. The three stories build and tangle, rushing toward a confrontation that threatens to not only upend the precarious balance of Eleusian society but also destroy the planet entirely.

It’s difficult to talk too much about the plot of Destroyer of Light without potential spoilers. In my opinion, many of the plot points that a discussion would reveal are fairly easy to predict, but I don’t want to ruin anyone’s reading experience. I’ll just say that, although a lot of this book was difficult for me to read (please see the CWs), there were many things I loved. I enjoyed finding all the little nods to Greek mythology and the story of Persephone, and I found the exploration of colonization and trauma compelling.

Overall, I recommend this if you are a fan of science fiction and Greek mythology and want a book that will make you think.

Content Warnings

rorikae's review

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challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

'Destroyer of Light' by Jennifer Marie Brissett is an engaging science fiction story that utilizes three different plots to explore a world where the Earth has been destroyed.
The story weaves between three different stories: one which follows a young girl kidnapped from her family and her home, the second tells of an adult woman with special powers who is trying to rise beyond her relationship with a warlord, and the third follows twin brothers searching for a missing young boy.
Brissett weaves together these three tales to explore a future where Earth has been destroyed and humanity now lives on a planet with the aliens that formerly conquered them. Through the three shifting stories, we are given a glimpse at different aspects of the world and how they all connect to one another. This slowly expands the world through the realities of the main characters as we also come to care about them as individuals. As the stories progress, they begin to connect more and more to each other until the full scope of the overarching plot is realized.
Despite the relatively short nature of the book, it is clear that Brissett has fully fleshed out the world behind it. I would love to read more in this world, even if it with completely new characters or takes place on a different planet.

Content Warnings

jesm's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

"Destroyer of Light" by Jennifer Marie Brissett follows several interwoven timelines, in a world where humans were forced to flee from Earth.

There was some super interesting world building in this one and the way the author created alien species was really fascinating. I really liked how Brissett tackled the complexities of communicating with species vastly different than your own.

I particularly loved the two brothers who worked sort of as private investigators, but also have a really interesting psychic link to one another.

Throughout the story there was so much intricate exploration of how we connect to each other. Across time, species, planets. Connections between captor and prisoner, child and adult, brothers, partners, parents. Each relationship was different, and yet hinged on the mutual need for one another to survive.

And it also explores what relations we can survive without. Which was both devastating and grimly hopeful.

There is some SUPER heavy content though! So please take care of yourself and read the content warnings for this one!

Nothing seemed out of place or gratuitous, or just for shock value though. All the intense situations were there for intricate thematic reasons, which is something I respect as a reader. I cared about the characters before, during, and after the trauma they suffered, rather than feeling manipulated by it.

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