squids_can_read's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
This book was horrible. I thought this was going to be about a young woman who is thrust into politics and is fighting for the throne. Instead, I got a weird amalgamation of half-baked science fiction and incestual gods. The main character is about as interesting as watching paint dry. The world-building is nonexistent. The rest of the characters are no better. This could have been a brilliant book about how love makes us complete but no it's just about sex. Honestly, why push the point that the gods are siblings if you are going to make their whole relationship just about sex? It's gross. Do you know what else is gross, pushing that this god character is fundamentally a child and then referencing people having sex with said child? Honestly, I don't know how I pushed my way through this. It was terrible. Maybe some people will like it but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I will probably not be reading anything else by this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Murder, Sexual violence, Torture, War, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Death, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
filipacm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75
This book was a recommendation and the first book by N.K. Jemisin that I read. Therefore, I didn't know the plot and wasn't familiar with the author's writing when I started reading it.
The way the book is narrated captivated me from the beginning, and I enjoyed following the unfolding events from Yeine's point of view. Although I can't quite pinpoint what made the reading process so intriguing, acquiring knowledge about the city of Sky and its functioning as Yeine adapted to new customs and the city's demands made for a great form of world-building.
In spite of the fact that I thought Yeine was an interesting character, I was difficult for me to care about the story as well as most other characters in the book. Although I'm not sure why, it was only in the last third that the reading process became much easier, and I truly started to care what happened to the gods.
The final chapters were undoubtedly my favourite part, as they surprised me repeatedly - especially regarding the fate of some characters. I believe that the following volumes of the trilogy have the potential to easily surpass the first one!
The way the book is narrated captivated me from the beginning, and I enjoyed following the unfolding events from Yeine's point of view. Although I can't quite pinpoint what made the reading process so intriguing, acquiring knowledge about the city of Sky and its functioning as Yeine adapted to new customs and the city's demands made for a great form of world-building.
In spite of the fact that I thought Yeine was an interesting character, I was difficult for me to care about the story as well as most other characters in the book. Although I'm not sure why, it was only in the last third that the reading process became much easier, and I truly started to care what happened to the gods.
The final chapters were undoubtedly my favourite part, as they surprised me repeatedly - especially regarding the fate of some characters. I believe that the following volumes of the trilogy have the potential to easily surpass the first one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Slavery, and Violence
Minor: Rape
daniella_lo's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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? No
5.0
Beautiful, challenges ideas of what makes a god and a mortal, what makes us human
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Torture, and Classism
Minor: Cannibalism, Incest, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, and Suicide
vigil's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
this book, was not amazing. plotwise, it was very promising and admittedly, i love an story, so on this front i was easy to please. that said i don’t think it was done as deftly as it could’ve been, as any real moments of insight into plot and character developments where easily undercut by scene after scene of yeine’s coochie quaking because of nahadoth, a half baked and unconvincing romance that never made me quite believe that their feelings towards each other where separate from nor that they genuinely enjoyed each other outside of inexplicable horniness. it grew more believable at the final portions, but by then it was too late.
the romance in general is not to my taste, as i can only liken it to being nk jemisin’s take on a sarah j mass plot, with shoddy the worldbuilding and flat characters included. yeine has moments where she’s almost interesting, as does nahadoth, but then jemisin has them fall back into the role of the new adult jerkass inhuman romance plot (which i must say, an inhuman mortal immortal romance can in fact work, and my prime recommendation is the winternight trilogy, starting with the bear and the nightingale) and then their boring again. the most intriguing aspects of this book happen when they are not involved with one another (and thus the main plot as the two are inextricably tied) such as when yeine is looking into her mother’s past, or her own personal connection with her home country and family there, and when nahadoth interacts with the other gods, particularly the flashbacks.
this book could’ve been great, and it wasn’t a terrible reading experience, but it wasn’t all it could’ve been.
Spoiler
apotheosisSpoiler
enefa’s influencethe romance in general is not to my taste, as i can only liken it to being nk jemisin’s take on a sarah j mass plot, with shoddy the worldbuilding and flat characters included. yeine has moments where she’s almost interesting, as does nahadoth, but then jemisin has them fall back into the role of the new adult jerkass inhuman romance plot (which i must say, an inhuman mortal immortal romance can in fact work, and my prime recommendation is the winternight trilogy, starting with the bear and the nightingale) and then their boring again. the most intriguing aspects of this book happen when they are not involved with one another (and thus the main plot as the two are inextricably tied) such as when yeine is looking into her mother’s past, or her own personal connection with her home country and family there, and when nahadoth interacts with the other gods, particularly the flashbacks.
this book could’ve been great, and it wasn’t a terrible reading experience, but it wasn’t all it could’ve been.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Colonisation, Death of parent, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Death, Cursing, Grief, Murder, Slavery, War, and Xenophobia
sirius_feanor's review
2.75
It was okay enough to finish it I guess. But overall kinda meh. Felt too YA for me. Young girl, ancient gods, bla-bla, one of them has a crush on her, she has to die because tradition or something, there's a yikes sex scene, she dies, boom she's a god now too.
Still thinking if I want to continue with the series.
Still thinking if I want to continue with the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Slavery, Death, Rape, Sexual content, and Torture
jlorusso's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest and Slavery
fantasticcan1475's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
4.0
This is a very complex book with a lot of different experiences and perspectives going on at once, yet you can’t help but root for Yena. It’s not always clear what’s going on, but that might be because I listened to this as an audiobook, when it probably would be clearer reading it. This book definitely takes on a more literary role than a lot of other fantasy books, with more complex word choices and underlying themes.
On that note, the plot isn’t predictable, which I always like, there are a lot of interesting characters and there’s a lot of depth to Yena: you can see her perspectives conflict with voices of the: the politician of a barbaric country, a warrior, daughter of forbidden marriage and relative of a god-like ruler. I like that she’s a very straightforward person, hopeful but realistic and fair, while also very aware of her faults.
On that note, the plot isn’t predictable, which I always like, there are a lot of interesting characters and there’s a lot of depth to Yena: you can see her perspectives conflict with voices of the: the politician of a barbaric country, a warrior, daughter of forbidden marriage and relative of a god-like ruler. I like that she’s a very straightforward person, hopeful but realistic and fair, while also very aware of her faults.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Mental illness, Death of parent, War, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Classism
Moderate: Incest, Death, Rape, Blood, and Slavery
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
sreddous's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This is a highly-detailed, well-built world with a mature and dark tone.
This book really shines when we get into the parts where it feels like we're reading mythology. All of the past stories with the gods are SO interesting and feel like dreamy fairy tales. All the scenes where Nahadoth acts like an abstract kind of god form are really beautiful even as they're (in a good way!!) confusing and overwhelming.
I think some of the dialogue is a bit stilted (me personally, I feel like gods calling themselves by their nicknames, Nahadoth=Naha and Itempas=Tempas, somehow didn't make things more intimate and realistic) but that's a pretty nitpicky thing. I think what makes this more four stars for me than five is that while the mythological stuff is super cool, the political stuff was sometimes hard to follow IMO. I think the plot could be a little more organized to make the stakes a little clearer earlier into the book, it feels like the second act of the book is super long and then the third is super short, which wouldn't be too big a deal if the second act was a little clearer on what we were building towards.
N.K. Jemisin has a gorgeous writing style and I'm definitely eager to keep reading her stuff!!
This book really shines when we get into the parts where it feels like we're reading mythology. All of the past stories with the gods are SO interesting and feel like dreamy fairy tales. All the scenes where Nahadoth acts like an abstract kind of god form are really beautiful even as they're (in a good way!!) confusing and overwhelming.
I think some of the dialogue is a bit stilted (me personally, I feel like gods calling themselves by their nicknames, Nahadoth=Naha and Itempas=Tempas, somehow didn't make things more intimate and realistic) but that's a pretty nitpicky thing. I think what makes this more four stars for me than five is that while the mythological stuff is super cool, the political stuff was sometimes hard to follow IMO. I think the plot could be a little more organized to make the stakes a little clearer earlier into the book, it feels like the second act of the book is super long and then the third is super short, which wouldn't be too big a deal if the second act was a little clearer on what we were building towards.
N.K. Jemisin has a gorgeous writing style and I'm definitely eager to keep reading her stuff!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Incest and Slavery