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A review by amberacks12
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It’s incredible to think this duology was a debut for Arkady Martine. It’s complexities and themes felt extremely well developed and communicated. The exploration of dialogue and rhetoric and language being used in a million different ways as well as the development of complex cultures was extremely intoxicating and addicting to read. But also made my head spin.
The characters weren’t always lovable. I would love to read more about Mahit and Yskander navigating more of their new identity, I maybe would have liked Mahit to be just a little less helpless and needing Three Seagrass to rescue her from every mess she gets herself in. Eight Antidote was not very believable as an eleven year old, though very entertaining at times. And I wish we could have learned more about Twenty Cicada and his planet and religion. In summary, I would not have minded a third addition to this series.
I don’t feel intelligent enough to review this book in any more depth.
So I’ll just stop there and say that I loved it.
Enjoyment: 4
Educational value: 5 (in the context of the world building)
Emotional impact: 3
The characters weren’t always lovable. I would love to read more about Mahit and Yskander navigating more of their new identity, I maybe would have liked Mahit to be just a little less helpless and needing Three Seagrass to rescue her from every mess she gets herself in. Eight Antidote was not very believable as an eleven year old, though very entertaining at times. And I wish we could have learned more about Twenty Cicada and his planet and religion. In summary, I would not have minded a third addition to this series.
I don’t feel intelligent enough to review this book in any more depth.
So I’ll just stop there and say that I loved it.
Enjoyment: 4
Educational value: 5 (in the context of the world building)
Emotional impact: 3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content