Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

14 reviews

nixieba25f's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Body horror, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Bullying, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Death, Genocide, Slavery, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Murder, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, War, Torture, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, and Violence

ecmbeanie's review against another edition

dark lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Classism, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Slavery, Colonisation, and Confinement

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Death of parent and Genocide

brittni_in_ink's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A fantasy novel with political intrigue, revenge plots, and captive gods, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is a fantastic read. The story follows Yeine, a young woman who is brought to the royal city of Sky after her family was disowned by her royal grandfather. She suspects that her mother's death was not natural and sets out to find out who killed her. The gods who are held hostage in the city offer to help her do more than that - but for a price. 

A slow-burn political intrigue unravels, revealing the truth of Yeine's purpose in Sky and the reason for the gods' imprisonment. The writing is incredible, Yeine's POV offers just the right balance of insight and action, and the relationships that develop leading up to the climax of the book are engaging. And like many of Jemisin's books, there's social commentary on harmful structures of power that are present in our own society.

Definitely one of my favourite reads of the year! I can't wait to continue with the series.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Colonisation, Death, and Classism

Moderate: War, Violence, Gore, Grief, Slavery, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Torture, and Sexual content

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Incest, Kidnapping, and Racism

carolined314's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Grief, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent, Stalking, Colonisation, Death, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Incest, Violence, Confinement, and Bullying

Minor: Genocide, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, and Child abuse

mxkanteven's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Gore, Confinement, Body horror, Classism, Death of parent, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Murder

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

mossgoblins's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Although N.K. Jemison’s Broken Earth trilogy is one of my all time favorite series, I didn’t resonate strongly with this book. It is one of her first books, so perhaps it is simply that she has grown so much as an author since, but I found the characters less complex in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the plot confusing, and the setting merely satisfactory. I can’t recommend this book as more than just a mildly entertaining read, but I do highly recommend Jemison’s later works- in particular: The Fifth Season. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, War, Blood, Emotional abuse, Incest, Torture, Confinement, Body horror, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Slavery

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

bookishcori's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Confinement

Moderate: Death and Blood

readwithria's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.5

This book is weird, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

There are things I liked, and there are things that were bizarre, and there were things I didn't like. It didn't stick with me all that much.

Things I Liked:
- The worldbuilding was extremely well done. Everything made sense, and the gods felt well fleshed out.
- Seih! Seih was by far my favorite character.
- The ending was quite satisfying. It felt a little deus ex machina but there were literal gods involved so I have no complaints.

Things I Wish Were Different
- I don't know if I'm supposed to like the matriarchal society structure, but it feels scummy and gross.

Spoiler

Having a coming of age ceremony that ends in one combatant raping the other is just not cool. But also I don't think it was written to be a good thing? I don't know, but Darr is a weird place

- Y'all, the romance was SO WEIRD. The sex scenes were bizarre, and some of the phrasing was the least sexy spice I've ever read. 
- The mortal characters didn't feel very fleshed out for some reason, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Did they matter? Would their actions have changed the outcome of the book? Having the gods be central characters makes that a weird thing to grapple with.

All in all, this book was fine. I don't know if I will read the rest of the trilogy, but I'm not ruling it out. 3.5 stars.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Confinement, and Colonisation

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

ruthlessreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was one of the best fantasy novels I've read in a long time. It is spectacularly written with characters that you love & grow close to quickly and some that you hate. It has a plot that would satisfy even the most discerning of readers and I can't wait to read the next book & find out where the story is going next. 

When Yeine Darr's mother dies, she is called to the throne of the king & given the shock of a lifetime: she is the granddaughter of the king & he has named her heiress, throwing her into the middle of a vicious & brutal competition for the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. However, as her relationship with the Enefadah (gods who were enslaved by the ruling class after losing a cosmic war against their sibling) deepens & begins to change, Yeine learns more secrets about the throne than she ever could have imagined. When she finally learns something about herself that shakes her to her core, she must decide how to use this new discovery to her advantage before time runs out & the next heir to the throne is chosen!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Confinement, Death of parent, Slavery, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Classism, Alcohol, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, War, Abandonment, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Grief, Bullying, and Drug use

overbooked207's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

📖 The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin Book Review 📖

8th book of January 2022 and 8th of the year:

I finally finished this big book! Once again the story, social commentary, dialogue, scheming and brutal fight scenes, and lore/magic systems were fantastic in an N.K. Jemisin novel! The characters and world were so fleshed out and complex, and I felt like I was right there in the world with them. The audiobook was beautifully done, as were The Broken Earth trilogy audiobooks, and I’m excited to continue reading and re-reading the rest of N.K. Jemisin’s books! TW for murder, death, torture, rape, slavery, explicit sexual content, violence, incest, mentioned cannibalism, body horror, death of a parent, confinement, human sacrifice, racism, war, gore, body horror, vomit, sexual violence, medical content/trauma, misogyny, abuse, alcohol/drug use, classism, colonization, torture, injury detail, infidelity, and grief📚🎧

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Rape, Confinement, Body horror, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Alcohol, Colonisation, Medical content, War, Grief, Vomit, Classism, Sexual content, Gore, Sexism, Drug use, Animal death, Murder, Incest, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Infidelity, Blood, Emotional abuse, Death, Slavery, Violence, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Bullying, Death of parent, Racism, and Kidnapping