Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin

13 reviews

kesreads13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? No

4.5


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mossgoblins's review against another edition

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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. 

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bookishcori's review against another edition

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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


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rexpostfacto's review against another edition

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

4.5

This was a delightful read. A bit slow moving in the beginning, but once it got going, wow

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thoughtsontomes's review against another edition

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

3.75

I can definitely see how Jemisin's writing style has changed over the years. In this book, she experiments with a slightly unreliable narration that can be a tad unclear at times. She also jumps into the story in a bit of a weird spot, which left me feeling a bit distant from our main character for a good part of the book. But there are a lot of tropes here that I love. There are the gods walking among us. Death and the maiden (or night and the maiden in this case) - which did read as a bit of instalove but it makes a bit more sense as the plot unfolds. The need for balance in a universe. The idea of something adjacent to reincarnation. Some court intrigue. And although parts of the story were slow, I did like the ending enough to continue. All of these books seem to be a bit self contained though as well so I don't feel the need to rush into the next book. 

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laguerrelewis's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

Is anyone surprised? This book has all the hallmarks of why we love Jemisin: a rich, exciting, creative world, compelling characters, and a narrative voice unlike any other I’ve read period, much less in this genre. I have the whole trilogy, and I’m excited to see where the story builds from here. It’s great to see where Jemisin began to carve out her place in the line of great novelists, and she popped out almost fully polished and ready to go.

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queenie_ofthe_void's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.5

NKJ is a continuous safe go-to for great stories. Of course I loved Nahadoth, but Yeine and Sieh were amazing protagonists. Even the villains were great, although I would've liked it just a touch more if Yeine had had at least one positive female relationship in the story. With that said, the men (and/or male presenting) on her side were diverse in personalities and enjoyable. Can't wait to read more!

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readingelli's review against another edition

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

3.75


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anxiousnachos's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

So mad at myself and the world for the fact I didn’t know N.K Jemisin had a god/monster fucking book ARE YOU KIDDING. And it’s amazing. Of course it is, it’s N.K Jemisin. Okay so this is a fantasy romance (ish) between a monster god who is enslaved alongside his god children and a mortal girl who is forced into the plans to free his family by the scheming of her dead mother. This is one of those books where you will have no idea what is going on at times but you will love it and if you just go along with it, it will all begin to make sense. There is a mystery as Yeine tries to work out the truth behind her mother’s death and the slavery of the gods, there is an absolutely incredibly interesting religion that is built wonderfully (I do think worldbuilding is always one of the things N.K Jemisin does best), and there is just an amazing sexy, kinky dynamic between Nahadoth and Yeine, in this god/mortal romance. I LOVED IT. Inject this trope into my veins please and thank you. There is such an interesting parallel to the behaviour of the gods and the behaviour of the human characters, made clear by a line one the gods says ‘we made you in our image’, and just, gah, it’s so clear where the passion and selfishness and ambition of the human characters come from. SO WELL DONE. I read 50 pages of this book and immediately went out and bought the sequels to prepare, because I knew I’d need to read them as soon as I finished, it was that good.

Content warnings: violence, murder, death, incest, torture, body horror, blood, gore, slavery, sex, consensual violence during sex, cannibalism, pedophilia, death of a parent, alcoholism, war 

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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

5.0

I really, really enjoy N.K. Jemisin’s writing. Her worlds are broken and explosive, and her characters so multifaceted. I enjoyed the Broken Earth trilogy, but I liked The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms even more.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is a book about how power corrupts, the danger of jealousy, the fallacies of gods, and the prejudice of humanity. It’s a story about vengeance on many different tiers – personal, familial, and even immortal. I was sucked in by the book, even if it was a bit of a slow read. It was worth it the patience for the depth and darkness it provided.

Jemisin has a way of creating characters that are more flaw than virtue, but you still adore. Yeine is angry, selfish, driven, strong, arrogant, reckless, and utterly interesting. Her quest for answers is the minor plot of the book – she wants to know why her mother left Sky and who killed her. Sieh and Nahadoh rank in my list of favorite characters of all time – there are so many different layers to each of them. So much pain, nostalgia, joy, charm, vulnerability, desire, hope, anger, despair… I could go on. These characters were two sides of a coin for me. Sieh’s childish hope counterbalanced Nahadoh’s desperate need perfectly. They’re also compelling, interesting characters. Too big for their bodies, in a very literal way. Loved them.

I believe the marketing of this book is a little misleading about its content since it’s far more complex than it appears. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is marketed as a YA epic fantasy. I would strongly disagree that it’s a YA book – it’s somewhere in the New Adult range more accurately. Yeine is young – nineteen, I believe – but she is older emotionally than her physical age because of her upbringing. There are definitely adult themes in this book and while I’m sure many individuals in the YA audience could handle it, I really think this is not a YA book. In terms of fantasy… well, yes, okay. It’s a fantasy world. Beyond the magic and theology, it’s a mystery story with the feel of urban fantasy. The world building is akin to epic fantasy, but that’s it. And it’s still really good – don’t let this deter you! It’s just not quite as I assumed before reading.

The mystery plot was a bit uncomplicated. There was a last minute twist at the end of the book I wasn’t expecting, but otherwise, I was so invested in the theological aspects of the story that I generally found Yeine’s insistence of digging up her mother’s past to be a distraction from more interesting things. The real story here, for me, was the tale of the three original gods and I loved it. I’m so glad this is a trilogy because I want more of this story. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms reads like a standalone book – there’s a satisfying enough end that you can stop if you want, but why on earth would you want to stop?

This is a book I am definitely going to buy in hardcopy. I could easily get lost in this dark and convoluted world. I will be reading on in the trilogy, and likely, I will reread The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms again someday in the future.


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