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A review by opalmars
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What a… strange book.
This book feels very disjointed. We’re following 3 POVs: a mother looking for her child, a kid learning to control her powers, and a woman just doing her job. These 3 POVs have completely separate storylines throughout the first 70% of the book (only then do they start connecting), so it felt like I was reading 3 different stories that simply happened to take place in the same world.
Additionally, the goal of this book wasn’t clear *AT ALL*. If I’m being honest, even the goal of each of these singular storylines didn’t seem that grand, either. So it kind of felt like we were meandering with no clear intention. I just kept wondering: What is the goal of this story? What is the point of this book? What is this story even about?
And, I hate to say it, but even after finishing the book, I genuinely couldn’t answer those questions. 😐 I can’t even summarize the plot of this book because….. what even *is* the plot? 3 people just go through some months/years of their life? They each have challenges. Things are happening. There’s danger around them. But this book *doesn’t have a plot*.
You might notice, however, that I still gave it a solid 4 stars, and that is because I genuinely enjoyed this book. 😅 I did have some gripes with it (I’ll get there), but, overall, the story was still really engaging! I read this in less than 3 days, and was in it the whole way through. Granted, the lack of goal or overall narrative weakened my enjoyment a bit, but I still had fun going through these characters’ lives, and learning about this world. Also, the 2nd person POV didn’t bother me at all, even though I’m not used to it. It wasn’t even distracting, to me!
I think one factor that really heightened my enjoyment was the audiobook. This is the 2nd book I’ve listened to – I usually can’t focus enough for audiobooks lol –, but this was a pleasant surprise! I never thought I’d be able to just *listen* to an adult high fantasy, but something about this story just worked for me on audio! And I reeeeally enjoyed the narrator! She managed to do different voices, accents and intonations for different characters, which made it very easy to understand who was speaking. Her emotions were also on point, when such were needed. None of it felt exaggerated or cartoonish. As someone who just *can’t* do audiobooks, I’d really recommend this one!
The weaker parts of this book (other than the general fact that there was barely even a plot of story arch) were related to the characters. I personally never fully cared about any of them, if I’m being completely honest. 😬 Alabaster, Tonkee and Hoa were alright companions, but I honestly wouldn’t feel much if they died. I probably wouldn’t feel anything if the MCs died, either lol. 💀 For some reason, I just never fully connected with them.
The one aspect of this book I actually *really* disliked was the romance. It is literally just insta-lust. We barely know this LI – we are just told he’s charming and attractive the moment he appears on page, and the characters immediately want to fuck him. Then there’s a 2-year time jump, and they’ve just…… been together for that time, I guess? And apparently love each other a lot? There was literally no development, the LI was basically a stranger to us, and the “romance” never seemed to go far past the instant horniness of the characters. Perhaps they actually found *real* reasons to ~fall in love~ (off-page), but WE didn’t see any of that, so…. 🤷🏻 Thankfully, the romance didn’t take up much of the story, but still. I wonder WHY the author chose to put such a poorly done romance in a story that would’ve been fine otherwise. If she reeeally wanted to include this romance, the least she could’ve done was develop it. 😬
So, overall, while I don’t think this book is for everyone, I feel like it is still quite enjoyable and unique. Also, *I* wouldn’t think this book is for *ME* (based on the fact that there isn’t really an objective to this story), but I still liked it, so… perhaps give it a try, regardless :p
This book feels very disjointed. We’re following 3 POVs: a mother looking for her child, a kid learning to control her powers, and a woman just doing her job. These 3 POVs have completely separate storylines throughout the first 70% of the book (only then do they start connecting), so it felt like I was reading 3 different stories that simply happened to take place in the same world.
Additionally, the goal of this book wasn’t clear *AT ALL*. If I’m being honest, even the goal of each of these singular storylines didn’t seem that grand, either. So it kind of felt like we were meandering with no clear intention. I just kept wondering: What is the goal of this story? What is the point of this book? What is this story even about?
And, I hate to say it, but even after finishing the book, I genuinely couldn’t answer those questions. 😐 I can’t even summarize the plot of this book because….. what even *is* the plot? 3 people just go through some months/years of their life? They each have challenges. Things are happening. There’s danger around them. But this book *doesn’t have a plot*.
You might notice, however, that I still gave it a solid 4 stars, and that is because I genuinely enjoyed this book. 😅 I did have some gripes with it (I’ll get there), but, overall, the story was still really engaging! I read this in less than 3 days, and was in it the whole way through. Granted, the lack of goal or overall narrative weakened my enjoyment a bit, but I still had fun going through these characters’ lives, and learning about this world. Also, the 2nd person POV didn’t bother me at all, even though I’m not used to it. It wasn’t even distracting, to me!
I think one factor that really heightened my enjoyment was the audiobook. This is the 2nd book I’ve listened to – I usually can’t focus enough for audiobooks lol –, but this was a pleasant surprise! I never thought I’d be able to just *listen* to an adult high fantasy, but something about this story just worked for me on audio! And I reeeeally enjoyed the narrator! She managed to do different voices, accents and intonations for different characters, which made it very easy to understand who was speaking. Her emotions were also on point, when such were needed. None of it felt exaggerated or cartoonish. As someone who just *can’t* do audiobooks, I’d really recommend this one!
The weaker parts of this book (other than the general fact that there was barely even a plot of story arch) were related to the characters. I personally never fully cared about any of them, if I’m being completely honest. 😬 Alabaster, Tonkee and Hoa were alright companions, but I honestly wouldn’t feel much if they died. I probably wouldn’t feel anything if the MCs died, either lol. 💀 For some reason, I just never fully connected with them.
The one aspect of this book I actually *really* disliked was the romance. It is literally just insta-lust. We barely know this LI – we are just told he’s charming and attractive the moment he appears on page, and the characters immediately want to fuck him. Then there’s a 2-year time jump, and they’ve just…… been together for that time, I guess? And apparently love each other a lot? There was literally no development, the LI was basically a stranger to us, and the “romance” never seemed to go far past the instant horniness of the characters. Perhaps they actually found *real* reasons to ~fall in love~ (off-page), but WE didn’t see any of that, so…. 🤷🏻 Thankfully, the romance didn’t take up much of the story, but still. I wonder WHY the author chose to put such a poorly done romance in a story that would’ve been fine otherwise. If she reeeally wanted to include this romance, the least she could’ve done was develop it. 😬
So, overall, while I don’t think this book is for everyone, I feel like it is still quite enjoyable and unique. Also, *I* wouldn’t think this book is for *ME* (based on the fact that there isn’t really an objective to this story), but I still liked it, so… perhaps give it a try, regardless :p
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Child abuse, and Abandonment
Minor: Cannibalism