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boocwurm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
An Afrofuturistic retelling of the myth of Persephone set on Eleusis, a new planet where humans sought refuge after aliens attacked Earth. The book jumps through time and perspectives to follow three interconnected storylines: A young girl is kidnapped from her agrarian community by a violent warlord; Genetically modified twin brothers use their unnatural gifts to search for a missing young boy in Eleusis’ city; A young woman navigates her relationship with a powerful man and the destiny he hopes she’ll achieve.
There was a lot to unpack in this book. Brissett explores dynamics of race, class, identity and what it truly means to be human—demonstrating how humanity may evolve and escape terror, but certain societal horrors might persist. The Kresge, the alien race who initially attacked Earth, have settled onto Eleusis alongside humans, and their motives are unclear. I found many parallels between the human/Kresge dynamic and the dynamic between Black/Indigenous peoples and white colonizers and enslavers, exploring ideas of righting past wrongs, deeply rooted distrust and persisting power systems. Having gotten through the plot and world-building on the first read, I’d like to revisit this book later to explore these ideas more deeply.
The multiple storylines are very separate in the outset—spanning a decade—but move closer and closer together as you near the end. At first, these time jumps were a little confusing, but nothing more than your average time-jump book. I was much more confused by the shift in perspectives. The POV changes from first to third person at seemingly random times. Even by the end, I couldn’t quite grasp the intentionality behind the first-person sections… The worldbuilding was also a bit confusing, although we got there by the end. The author introduces new terms in early chapters and then explains them in depth in later chapters; I wished some of these explanations had come a little earlier so they’d mean more to me during the story’s foundation.
I liked the characters and their relationships quite a bit. Cora, the main character throughout, is a strong and powerful person who doesn’t let others’ desires for her path define her. If you know the Persephone myth, many of the characters and story tidbits will seem familiar to you, and I quite enjoyed those callbacks (and I’m sure there are many I missed). I also quite liked the author’s writing style. She uses a lot of artful repetition toward the end that I felt really brought the stories together into one cohesive narrative.
Overall, this was a clever sci-fi tale that examines much more than the usual, asking us to examine humanity with a new backdrop.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, and Murder
Moderate: War and Kidnapping
story_goblin's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Rape, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Racism, Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Xenophobia, and Classism
rorikae's review
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.
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
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
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