Reviews tagging 'War'

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

46 reviews

ericageorge91's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

4.5

“To those who have no choice but to prepare their children for the battlefield.”

This book was a study in generational trauma and I was here for every second of it. After all of the world building of the first book in a series, I love being able to hit the ground running in a sequel 😌 

***SPOILERS***

As heartbreaking as it was, I loved getting Nassun’s perspective. We knew that Essun was fucked up. After everything she’d been through, how could she not be? But to see how the trauma aftershocks hit her daughter was 🥲 And to think that Essun isn’t alone in this. There are too many parents who think that preparing their kids for the ugliness of the world is doing them a kindness when they’re really becoming their kids’ first enemy. WHEW!

Schaffa 😐 I don’t know how I feel about him. Is this supposed to be a redemption arc? Because I’m not biting. He got the teeniest sliver of sympathy from me for the fact that Guardian creation also seems pretty brutal and that’s all I can afford.

TW: Child death, child abuse, grief, death, murder, sexual content (brief), cannibalism, war, toxic relationship

Rep: BIPOC characters, gay side character, bi/pan characters, trans minor character, polyamory (references)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, and War

Moderate: Cannibalism and Toxic relationship

gandalf_a's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Terminal illness, and Medical content

Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, War, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Sexual content

brynalexa's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? No

4.5

I don’t have much to say about this as it has run together with the first which I think is a strength of the series. The completely intertwined storylines are smart and intricate and hold the story together perfectly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Racism, Genocide, Death of parent, Child death, Murder, Hate crime, Deadnaming, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Medical content

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

the_bees_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.0

Loved the second book in this series, even if it did have a little book two syndrome, cannot wait to see where book three takes me to! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, War, and Body horror

talasterism's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.75

SLIGHTLY worse than the first one but still SOOO good, i love the lore of this world so much and the povs of this one were !!!!

AND ALABESTER BEING A STONE EATER jt makes so much sense no???

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Terminal illness, Medical content, and Violence

Minor: War and Torture

leadpal's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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: Child abuse, War, Kidnapping, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, and Body horror

Minor: Cannibalism and Fire/Fire injury

brycestevenwilley'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? Yes

5.0

For me, truly cements this as a great series. The mystery and build up of the Obelisks, the writing style, the continuing character arcs, and the exploration of the world's mechanics are all incredible. Everything in the world building from the physics, to the history, to the socialogy to the character motivations all align so well, and it all meshes together. Excited to get to the next one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Terminal illness, Murder, and War

ejspiese's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.5

Really amazing follow up to The Fifth Season. It didn’t have that same gut punch reaction from me as the first book but it was still better than most books on the shelves! Very excited to see what happens to these people (erm.. characters) in the conclusion!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent and War

icewindgale's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Torture

Moderate: War, Slavery, and Child death

sarasreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.75

Knocking a little off only because I am somehow still confused about which side is which in this war triangle, who they are, what they want, and how they want to get it. I feel like it was explained several times, but also not really? 

And so much of the theory in the world building is confusing to me. Either it is as complex as I think it is, or it was just hard for me to understand because I was on a lot of medication while reading this. All in all a good portion of this book was difficult for me to follow.

Still, I absolutely could not put this down and flew through it in like 2 days, staying up well into the wee hours of the night. I'll just read more about it on wikipedia or something to try and understand the magic and political systems.

I cannot wait for the last installment!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Terminal illness, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: War and Body horror