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emilymia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Violence, and War
Moderate: Racism, Cannibalism, and Racial slurs
abitbetterbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.75
Excellent second instalment to this series! Didn’t have me quite as captured as The Fifth Season (I think having the 3 intersecting storylines made it feel faster, in comparison to 2 main stories in TOG) but I loved all of the developments and complexities of these characters. Absolutely masterful work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Grief, War, and Murder
Minor: Cannibalism
sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
The Obelisk Gate is the sequel to N. K. Jemisin's "The Fifth Season" and it definitely does not suffer from "bad sequel syndrome "as one goodreads user put it. This was an amazing follow up, with so much wonderful and vast world building and character growth.
I loved this and I see why it also won the Hugo award (and many other awards).
I was drawn in to the story and my interest or excitement never faltered. This book reminds me of how enamored I was while reading Octavia E. Butler's Patternist series, I see some elements of OEB's stories come through in The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate. Mainly a dystopian setting, found family, and found community to help survive the recent disasters.
I read this in 5 days only because I was buddy reading with my boyfriend and we had to read around his schedule. If I had read this on my own I probably would have finished it within a day or two. It was that good.
I loved this and I see why it also won the Hugo award (and many other awards).
I was drawn in to the story and my interest or excitement never faltered. This book reminds me of how enamored I was while reading Octavia E. Butler's Patternist series, I see some elements of OEB's stories come through in The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate. Mainly a dystopian setting, found family, and found community to help survive the recent disasters.
I read this in 5 days only because I was buddy reading with my boyfriend and we had to read around his schedule. If I had read this on my own I probably would have finished it within a day or two. It was that good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Physical abuse, Violence, Child death, Blood, Child abuse, and Death of parent
mandkips's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Gore, and Death
Minor: Cannibalism
leanne_miron's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, and Child abuse
Moderate: Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Violence, and Xenophobia
tldrjune's review against another edition
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The first book in this series was a breathtaking piece of world building, drawn up by some clunky writing and a decently skillful asynchronous chapter structure. Character building was always the weakest part of the author's repertoire and yikes it's come out big time in Book 2. No one is likable, no one has relatable or likable relationships, and literally everything is ROCKS GEOLOGY MYTH/MAGIC driving everything all the time. Which... that's fine? It's cool. But I feel pretty let down. Here's hoping book 3 is better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Child abuse
Moderate: Cannibalism
farleighelse's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
expands on stone eaters. more on what happens during a season and how it affects environment. a guardian lost, losing his original drive. starts to care for oregones. Fucked up moon. child abuse and trauma. multiple POVs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Child death, Racism, and Child abuse
Moderate: Cannibalism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Hate crime
Minor: Sexual content and Torture
yourbookishbff's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
The Obelisk Gate, book two in the Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin, built on everything I loved in book one and brought even more depth, complexity and heart-wrecking authenticity to each character. As I was thinking about how to describe the dominant themes in book two, I thought most of Beloved, by Toni Morrison, for how fearlessly both NKJ and Morrison explore the layered traumas of child loss and enslavement. I also kept thinking back to the second installment in Tracy Deonn's Legendborn Cycle, Bloodmarked, for how both NKJ and Deonn use fantasy to literally and explicitly call out colonization and the inter-generational trauma of enslaved peoples. NKJ has been very straightforward in her thoughts on the use of subtler forms of allegory to discuss racism in fantasy (as in, subtle doesn't work). In that vein, The Obelisk Gate leaves nothing to misinterpretation - this is a story about slavery.
At the start of The Obelisk Gate, our main character Essun has lost too many children, has sacrificed too much of herself, and has been hunted by too many of those she once loved, and her grief is all consuming. The tender moments between her and Alabaster destroyed me. And we finally get NESSUN in book two, and it's just as much of a gut punch as we expected. She gives up so much for survival - her "daughterhood," her childhood, her ideas of familial love. Through Nessun in particular, NKJ is constantly pushing us to examine our sympathies. Characters like Jija and Schaffa are head-spinning as we try to sort out good and evil in a world literally covered in gray ash.
And sweet, terrifying Hoa. I love him. I distrust him. I love him. I don't know.
Highly recommend this series and looking forward to book three!
At the start of The Obelisk Gate, our main character Essun has lost too many children, has sacrificed too much of herself, and has been hunted by too many of those she once loved, and her grief is all consuming. The tender moments between her and Alabaster destroyed me. And we finally get NESSUN in book two, and it's just as much of a gut punch as we expected. She gives up so much for survival - her "daughterhood," her childhood, her ideas of familial love. Through Nessun in particular, NKJ is constantly pushing us to examine our sympathies. Characters like Jija and Schaffa are head-spinning as we try to sort out good and evil in a world literally covered in gray ash.
And sweet, terrifying Hoa. I love him. I distrust him. I love him. I don't know.
Highly recommend this series and looking forward to book three!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Child death, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Confinement, Murder, and Colonisation
Minor: Cannibalism
thunderquake's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
5.0
i really really like this, it took everything i loved from the first book and almost doubled it. words can't describe how much i love the world building in this series, it continues to amaze me with every chapter, and makes me fall in love with the fantasy genre all over again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual content
Minor: Cannibalism
claire8's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
Moderate: Child death and Child abuse
Minor: Cannibalism