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hopereads757 's review for:
Truth of the Divine
by Lindsay Ellis
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is such a rollercoaster đ
Right off the bat it is a significant leap from Axiomâs End, both in writing style, scope, and tone. Axiomâs End certainly had its dark moments, but Truth of the Divine takes it many MANY steps further and lingers on the pain and deep emotions that the characters are feeling. Axiomâs End focused on Coraâs emotions, but in TotD expands the mental scope to Ampersand, and new characters including Enola/Nikola and Kaveh.
I definitely didnât like Kavehâs POV at first, but he grew on me. I also donât like the way Ampersand is side-lined in this book, but I guess it makes sense for the narrative.
Personally, this book did NOT go the way I expected or wanted, but that doesnât make it a bad book, and it certainly redeemed itself in my eyes. The last ten percent of the audiobook had be HOOKED.
This book tackles a LOT of heavy and very politicized topics that I havenât seen brought up in books often (but Iâm not a huge sci-fi reader so Iâm sure there are plenty of books that *do* bring this stuff up, I just havenât read them). Some of these topics and discussions are certainly a bit on the nose, but honestly I donât think thatâs a bad thing. Iâm definitely biased though because it seems that Ellis and I are fairly politically aligned.
Also I appreciate how much of Ellisâ internet humor snuck into this book - with a âdead dove. Do not eatâ moment and a Broadway discussion that included the line âCats canât hurt you.â
Honestly, my biggest issue with this book is the relationship between Kaveh and Cora. There were many moments from his POV that just felt yucky in the ways he described her and thought about her. I think Kaveh felt very real and is a wonderfully written character, but his age gap and extreme power imbalance with Cora made me very uncomfortable. I couldnât tell if Ellis was approving of their relationship or not in the way that it was written. I love that Kaveh took care of Cora with no expectations of getting anything in return, but I wish their relationship hadnât been sexual. I think it could have been just as meaningful for him to be an older brother figure for her. Especially considering Coraâs separation from her own siblings, I think it would have been nice to have a sibling dynamic back.
Some dialogue I screen-recorded:
- âPlease donât apologize for the act of experiencing pain.â
- Saul sucks but this line slaps: ââDonât make me beat the shit out of you, you f*cking nerd.ââ Defending Cora from this doctor is the best thing heâs done
- âI hate that way of framing it. I hate that the phrase âdaddy issuesâ is even in the vernacular. Like abusive failures of parents causing life-long damage can be dismissed as just âdaddy issues.â It isnât creepy to compare your partners to your parents. Your parents are the ones who train you what to expect from relationships. They teach you how love works, and they train you how to expect others to treat you.â
As a 20-something with depression and daddy issues, I am the #1 Cora Sabino defender. Ampersand is my lil dude who can do no wrong, and Nikola can *mostly* do no wrongâŚitâs complicated.
Right off the bat it is a significant leap from Axiomâs End, both in writing style, scope, and tone. Axiomâs End certainly had its dark moments, but Truth of the Divine takes it many MANY steps further and lingers on the pain and deep emotions that the characters are feeling. Axiomâs End focused on Coraâs emotions, but in TotD expands the mental scope to Ampersand, and new characters including Enola/Nikola and Kaveh.
I definitely didnât like Kavehâs POV at first, but he grew on me. I also donât like the way Ampersand is side-lined in this book, but I guess it makes sense for the narrative.
Personally, this book did NOT go the way I expected or wanted, but that doesnât make it a bad book, and it certainly redeemed itself in my eyes. The last ten percent of the audiobook had be HOOKED.
This book tackles a LOT of heavy and very politicized topics that I havenât seen brought up in books often (but Iâm not a huge sci-fi reader so Iâm sure there are plenty of books that *do* bring this stuff up, I just havenât read them). Some of these topics and discussions are certainly a bit on the nose, but honestly I donât think thatâs a bad thing. Iâm definitely biased though because it seems that Ellis and I are fairly politically aligned.
Also I appreciate how much of Ellisâ internet humor snuck into this book - with a âdead dove. Do not eatâ moment and a Broadway discussion that included the line âCats canât hurt you.â
Some dialogue I screen-recorded:
- âPlease donât apologize for the act of experiencing pain.â
- Saul sucks but this line slaps: ââDonât make me beat the shit out of you, you f*cking nerd.ââ Defending Cora from this doctor is the best thing heâs done
- âI hate that way of framing it. I hate that the phrase âdaddy issuesâ is even in the vernacular. Like abusive failures of parents causing life-long damage can be dismissed as just âdaddy issues.â It isnât creepy to compare your partners to your parents. Your parents are the ones who train you what to expect from relationships. They teach you how love works, and they train you how to expect others to treat you.â
As a 20-something with depression and daddy issues, I am the #1 Cora Sabino defender. Ampersand is my lil dude who can do no wrong, and Nikola can *mostly* do no wrongâŚitâs complicated.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Islamophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Blood