Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Zerrissene Erde by N.K. Jemisin

202 reviews

talasterism's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

WAHHHH THE ENDING PART IS JSUT SO PERFECT. ITS JUST SO GENIUS PONDEROUS STORY i love the worldbuilding/lore and the conflict and the tWISTS and the last part is so fucking good and juicy and painful in the best way. WHAT A GREAT FUCKING STORY

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Slavery, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.75

I was very confused in the beginning, and I’d say I didn’t quite understand what was going on until about 75 percent of the way through the book, but by the end I was very invested. N.K. Jemisin is a genius

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Child death, Gore, Murder, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Racial slurs, and Grief

Moderate: Confinement, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual content, Slavery, Stalking, Animal death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Torture, and War

Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Cannibalism

talstrel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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: Death, Child abuse, Slavery, Child death, Grief, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

Minor: Cannibalism and Pregnancy

Institutionalised forced pregnancy and rape is a prominent part of the book.

The rape of side characters is mentioned multiple times, and two of the main characters are institutionally coerced to have a child together.

stierwood's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Some things: 

I didn’tunderstand the use of the 2nd person until about 2/3rds thru the book, and then thought it was rlly clever. 

Characters were complex and loveable. 

I have a history degree. That this book focuses on history, how it is told, and who writes it was so good to read and exceptionally well-done. The lore was sooo fleshed out.

A hard one to read in a slump. The world building was complex so thank gd for the appendix. 

Dark, but never unnecessarily so. 

Except every modern dystopian piece of media i have consumed recently has had cannibalism in it and my tummy hurts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Slavery, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Racism, Sexual content, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, War, Classism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, and Sexual harassment

cupidsaro's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Slavery and Kidnapping

cheye13's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This is a masterfully composed story and an expertly crafted world. I particularly enjoyed the interludes that broke the story here and there - beautiful passages that also foreshadowed and added subtext seamlessly.

There was a consistently morose tone and happy moments were few and far between, which I found trying at times. But overal an excellent book that I would recommend widely. Can't wait to see where the rest of the story goes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, Child abuse, Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Torture

Minor: Pedophilia, Trafficking, Homophobia, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Slavery

galacticvampire's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

5.0

"Stupid, stupid woman. Death was always here. Death is you."

I was enamoured by the concept of The Fifth Season from the first time I heard about it years ago, added to overall praise for the series, I was coming with high expectations.

And it delivered. Everything and more.

The execution not only lives up to the concept, but surpasses it. The suspense isn't there to pull the rug from under your feet in a gotcha moment, it's carefully crafted into the story, where the reveals are satisfying and spark the need for more, even when you caught what the foreshadowing was trying to tell you.

The world is so rich and complex that the initial struggle to follow what was going on (including the recurrent second person pov) has an immense pay-off. The feeling of wonder didn't leave me for a second.

I'm very much on the transition from YA to Adult Fantasy, so the very real darkness and grittiness surrounding everything was unexpected, but I couldn't have picked a better book to make me fall in love with the genre.

This is a story about Pain. This is a story about Grief. This is a story about enduring them and surviving them, because you have no other option.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Grief, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Racial slurs, Abandonment, Sexual content, Rape, and Bullying

Minor: Alcohol, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Racism, and Xenophobia

icewindgale's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Torture

audino's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

Such a page-turner from start to finish! The core mystery had me so curious I was taking memos and writing down all my theories. I loved the way Jemisin played with POVs, it added so much to the storytelling. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Violence, Racism, and Sexual content

zaharya's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

I struggled to get into it in the beginning, but once it clicked I devoured this.
The characterisation is brilliant! The world building is very unique, and delivered very well as it gradually expanded.
Definitely darker than I initially expected — I went in knowing basically nothing about it, so that’s not very difficult — but not in a way that felt like it was just for shock. 
The writing itself is extremely good, and the second person POV is an interesting change from the usual third or first person — which are also included though.
Definitely picking up the second one right away.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Racism

Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, and Slavery

Minor: Cannibalism and Sexual content