Reviews with content warning for Cannibalism - The Book That Broke the World

CW that’s a spoiler:
moderate-to-graphic descriptions of cannibalism and torture/mutilation
.
CW that isn’t really a spoiler: slavery.

The first book was a breath of very welcome fresh air in the fantasy/sci fi genre.

This one was doing OK until about 70% in at which point my least favourite grimdark trope reduced the book’s mystery to a very, very, very boring and repulsive villain. The twist doesn’t mix well with Celcha’s story in my view; I’m not entirely sure how to word my opinion regarding white authors telling stories about slavery but in summary, it’s the thinnest of thin ice topics and authors usually fail at subtle but critical points.

That’s the case here too: a subtle failure that leaves me wondering if it wouldn’t have been more effective and less shaky to explore the exact same arc through downtrodden labourers instead of trying to craft a fantasy story of surviving slavery. I get the moral point that Celcha’s arc is supposed to deliver, but I’m not satisfied with the argument and storytelling philosophy that underpins it. Combined with the random grimdark twist, the overall effect here is the stereotypical Serious Dark Fantasy That Takes Itself Really Seriously While Discussing Serious Dilemmas and Tries to Say Things About People in Power Through The Theme of Slavery But Isn’t Entirely Sure How To Do It Seriously Enough.

I’m not sure if I’m cautiously looking forward to book three or uneasily waiting for it to set the wrongs of book two right.

Content Warnings

artemisx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

3.0

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vincent1126's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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bookish_hollyx's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

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georgiatheperson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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lilianangelicae_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

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smitchy's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

OK so this was actually a did not finish at about 2/3 of the way through.
Lets start with this book is SIGNIFICANTLY darker than the first in the series and honestly I am just not up for that. It lost me at the cannibalism. I did not care enough about the characters (I cared a bit but not enough) to want to go back to have more unpleasant things put in my brain.
I admit my threshold for gore is quite low but I just did not expect this book to get quite so dark.

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