Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Truth of the Divine

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Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis

25 reviews

pizzasprite's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I have strongly conflicting feelings about this book.

It a took a while for me to get around to reading this one, since the plot of Axiom's End was so heavily based in American politics, which I am completely uninterested in as a non-American. However, Truth of the Divine does a better job exploring the international implications of first contact than Axiom's End did. The first half of this book was, well, divine - I was extremely interested in the relationship between Cora and Ampersand, and the urgency of resolving the main political conflicts continued on from the first book. I thought Kaveh was a much-needed different perspective to contrast Cora's limited viewpoints. I think that telling the story of first contact from a journalist's POV much more interesting than from a "militarist" perspective. I also loved Nikolas! The alien culture that Ellis has fabricated is truly fascinating, I almost wish this series was all about aliens with no human characters. The way Cora's PTSD and panic attacks were depicted were equally heartbreaking and sympathetic. This book depicts mental illness more earnestly than anything I have read recently.

The second half of the book is much weaker. The tension between Cora and Ampersand dissolved completely, since Ampersand is largely absent beyond Act 2. The sexual relationship between Cora and Kaveh made me so, so, so uncomfortable. It felt very gratuitous and came out of nowhere, almost like an editor insisted on their romance. In the author's notes, Ellis mentions that Kaveh used to be two characters, and you can definitely see that in the writing. There were many instances in which I felt like I could not continue reading, because their age difference and unbalanced power dynamic made me feel that uncomfortable. Early on, it's established that Cora feels very lonely, and needs another human to talk to: if Kaveh had remained her friend/mentor, this dynamic would have been perfect. However, the fact that they begin sleeping together makes their bond feel extremely creepy and toxic. This makes it difficult to "root" for Kaveh as a protagonist. I wish the book focused on the relationship between Ampersand and Cora, especially since their romance is alluded to early in the book. I suspect/hope this will be explored more in the next book.

I will probably read the next book in the series, to ultimately see what happens to Ampersand. But this one definitely left a foul taste in my mouth.

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mlovesbooks's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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jjreads331's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

Of all the places I thought this series would go, this was not it, if I'm being honest. And I am so happy to have been surprised. I'm excited to see what comes next, even if I'm still reeling a bit from this entry into the series.

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robbie's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Boy, this one was a big downer for me!

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alrauna's review against another edition

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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

4.5

I know the book is about what it means to be human, but I just want an alien to call me dear one.

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kharlan3's review

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cold_boy's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

After reading (and mostly enjoying) Axiom's End, I was left wishing that Ellis had taken the story in a bit of a darker, weirder direction. The first book very much feels like a Hollywood movie. In Truth of the Divine, she delivers that in spades.
In particular, the way that this book depicts

anxiety, panic attacks, and suicidal ideation

is remarkably real, far more accurate than any other piece of media I've seen - the repetition of

"It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world,"

really hit home. This was boosted immensely by Stephanie Willis's exceptional performance as the main narrator of the audiobook.
The plot did struggle a bit, in that it was mainly characters both new and old reacting to the events of the previous book rather than tangibly expanding the world and story, but Ellis develops and explores this so well that it's hard to complain.
The only real issue I took with the book was the introduction of the new point-of-view character, Kaveh. I understood his importance to the plot and to Cora, but I just really didn't like him as a person, which made it hard for me to connect with him.

That said, the awkwardness of his relationship with Cora, his handling of her mental health issues, his conversations with Nikola, and Cora's reaction to his death were all some of the most interesting (I hesitate to say "best") parts of the book.

tl;dr this was a difficult book to read, but worth it. I'm very excited to see where Ellis takes the series from here.

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