Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

137 reviews

norspider's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Revenge is a buffet served cold.

Black Sun has a deep, rich world that is explored more deeply in each chapter. The pre-Columbian inspiration for the setting is utilized expertly; each faction and sub-faction is given their due. 

The pace, dialogue, and plot all kept me wanting to read. 

I found myself cheering for each of our POV characters, which is very rare for me. I want Xiala to live rich and well. I want Naranpa to bring honor back to her station. I want Okoa to avenge his mother. And I want Serapio to fulfill his destiny. 

There is wonderful LGBTQIA2S+ representation! Not caricatures or jokes, just people living in the world as part of the story. Beautifully done. 

The only reason I didn't give Black Sun a full 5/5 is because none of its plots conclude; this is an incomplete book. But I knew this was the start of a series when I picked it up so I can (mostly)look beyond that. And Roanhorse has found a passionate new fan in me! 

I can't wait to read book 2!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, and Sexual content

Minor: Excrement

scarroll178's review

reflective slow-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? No

3.0

This book involves more world building than action or character development. The only part of the book that contains a complete story is

the love story between the Captain and Serapio.

It very much reads like it was written just to create a starting point for the rest of the series. I wish there had been more story and less world building. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Gore, Death, and Child abuse

moonytoast's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Violence, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcohol, Death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Gore, Sexism, Vomit, Body horror, and Cursing

dreadspawn's review

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Child abuse, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Violence

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, Blood, Murder, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: War, Genocide, and Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Suicide, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Racial slurs, and Misogyny

ellaviolet's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

It didn’t pick up until halfway through in my opinion, and even then there were slow parts. Finishing it left me intrigued by the prospect of the next book but apprehensive about another slow reading experience. I loved the representation of genders and sexualities — not a utopia by any means but felt real and possible. I appreciated the author’s care and intentionality around disability representation. And I’m so into the whole concept of a pre columbian inspired fantasy. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore

kirchnerkd's review

adventurous dark fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Classism

Minor: Misogyny, Confinement, Racism, Suicide, Slavery, Child abuse, and Death of parent

merppenguin's review

mysterious tense slow-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? No

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Body horror

salemander's review

5.0

this book is fucking amazing. absolute genius 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexual violence, Torture, and Physical abuse

camrich's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.25

I’m usually not much of a high fantasy reader, but I had heard so many great things about this book that I had to give it a shot. Overall I thought it was great! It took me a little bit to get into all of the world building, but the characters (especially Serapio and XIALA!!) had me hooked from the start. I actually grew to love learning about all of the cultures and the tensions between them as the book progressed, especially the political state of Tova and tensions between the clans/the clans and the priesthood/within the priesthood. Another thing I loved was all of the representation, especially regarding trans & non-binary identities and visual disability.
Now for a bit of the negative points of this book for me. The main one was that the book spent all its time building up to this major event only for it to actually happen across 2, maybe 3 pages; I was obviously disappointed. That being said, I did think that it was cool to read about the effects of this event from the different character perspectives which softened the blow a bit. Another was how underdeveloped one of the main character’s story was, especially in comparison to another character who got lots of page time but had very little development (

*cough* Narampa *cough*

) I was actually really interested in expanding on Okoa and

the mystery behind his mother’s death/murder

but unfortunately it seemed like that plot point was abandoned (hoping the author further develops that in the second book!).
Overall a solid start to the trilogy, will definitely be picking up Fevered Star and Mirrored Heavens to see how everything plays out!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Animal death, and Genocide