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A review by forthesanityof1
The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
Oh god did I love this book. The premise really caught me in the beginning and I love the way the author engaged with the world-building over the course of the book to build into the plot issues as well. The way the language with the names of the different races was created particularly stood out to me. The plot was super intriguing in a nice mix of political intrigue, war, and personal stakes that made it a page-turner. I loved the writing style along with the three perspectives utilized by the author. First Sister's POV was my favorite but Lito and Hiro's were also really well done. I also appreciated the overall queer-ness of the book and world. I like that the ending especially had a lot of impact with reveals about a certain character and what actually happened. If I wasn't exhausted, I could draw a lot of parallels to issues we see in our world with queer, women, and more specifically trans issues as well. I'm dying to get my hands on the second one once it's out in paperback. If there was one thing for me to criticize, it was that the pacing sometimes reflected the author's intention to set up for the rest of the trilogy in a way that was a touch obvious, but that's being super nit-picky. Also hoping for a poly relationship in the end, so fingers crossed.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, and Violence
Mental illness specifically refers to the revelation that the First Sister has DID or dissociative identity disorder due to her experiences and Lito deals with PTSD/flashbacks/panic attacks/reliving physical sensations . I included tags about rape and sexual assault due to thenature of the Sisterhood and the tasks they are expected to perform for those that want it regardless of the Sister's consent.