A review by taliatalksbooks
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.25

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin is the first in the author’s Broken Earth Trilogy. While I felt like this story was slow to start, the pacing of the novel picks up as the pieces start to fall together. At the start, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, but by the final page I was running for the sequel waiting patiently on my shelf. The slow start is entirely worth the way the plot progresses, my only complain is that after 400+ pages, some of the world specific language is still not clicking for me. I am hoping this is more due to the fact that is is a developing story and that more will be revealed in the two books to come, but the world-specific language is very heavy in this novel. It doesn’t necessarily impede understanding, but it does raise a lot of questions as to how this society functions overall and who the biggest threats are. Again, I’m not worried yet that this information is still unclear, but this would certainly fall more into my category of slow world building (where you’re a little bit confused but still enjoying your read) than it would quick world building building and plot advancement. This novel forces you to take your time and get to know the characters, which makes the events of the novel that much more impactful. I really loved the characters in this novel, so I didn’t mind the time spent with each on of them. I also know most people would complain about the use of second person for some of the novel, but I absolutely think it’s brilliant. It calls attention to the now, and makes you wonder why these sections are specifically in second person, and boy will the answer shock you (and also make complete sense at the same time). Overall, I’m incredibly excited to see where this story goes next, and if this isn’t on your TBR, I would definitely consider adding it sometime in the near future (although, definitely be warned there are a lot of heavy topics through this novel). 
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