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A review by mizz_mack
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Book Contains: On Page Sex (Not Graphic), Explicit References to Child Sexual Abuse, On Page Physical Abuse of Child, Sexual Abuse/Corrosion, Internalized Prejudice (though I don't go into depth at all in this review tbh)
I had a real good time with this book, so much so that I'm still lowkey processing it. I've got so many thoughts and questions (so I may come back an edit this review, who knows).
One thing I really enjoyed was the writing style. It was simple and easy to follow, though certain concepts did take me a while to understand, but that doesn't mean it didn't have depth. It really helped pull me through the character's emotions and everything they were experiencing. It made all the terrible, terrible actions that happened hit harder in my opinion. I will say that the 2nd person parts of the but never really clicked with me, though the reveal made me appreciate them all the more.
Following the journey of Damaya, Syenite, and Essun was ultimately really fantastic. I enjoyed all the characters though some of them were simply there for set up for future books I feel, like Tonkee. But that didn't bother me since I'm excited for the other books in the series! If characters similar to Tonkee don't play a bigger role in the story then I'll think that was a misstep tbh.
As I stated I'm still processing some of the stuff from this book and I might re-read/listen to it to get an even better, more solid feel.
I listened to the audiobook on Spotify and the narrator was amazing the whole way through. I thought the way they handled the dialogue and all of the character voices was great, and really brought the text to life.
I had a real good time with this book, so much so that I'm still lowkey processing it. I've got so many thoughts and questions (so I may come back an edit this review, who knows).
One thing I really enjoyed was the writing style. It was simple and easy to follow, though certain concepts did take me a while to understand, but that doesn't mean it didn't have depth. It really helped pull me through the character's emotions and everything they were experiencing. It made all the terrible, terrible actions that happened hit harder in my opinion. I will say that the 2nd person parts of the but never really clicked with me, though the reveal made me appreciate them all the more.
Following the journey of Damaya, Syenite, and Essun was ultimately really fantastic. I enjoyed all the characters though some of them were simply there for set up for future books I feel, like Tonkee. But that didn't bother me since I'm excited for the other books in the series! If characters similar to Tonkee don't play a bigger role in the story then I'll think that was a misstep tbh.
As I stated I'm still processing some of the stuff from this book and I might re-read/listen to it to get an even better, more solid feel.
I listened to the audiobook on Spotify and the narrator was amazing the whole way through. I thought the way they handled the dialogue and all of the character voices was great, and really brought the text to life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Physical abuse
References to Child Sexual Abuse. I consider when 2 of the main characters Syenite and Alabaster go through as Sexual Abuse/Corrosion though others may not.