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odunayo_y's review against another edition
dark
3.5
The presence of certain triggering content really soured my enjoyment. I get it’s grimdark, but did (almost) every “romantic” relationship be pedophilic/grooming or incestous There was genuinely no reason for Akihi to be fucking his cousin the hell??? Just why??
I’m one of those crotchety 25 year olds that really doesn’t like having kids/teens as significant characters in non-kids’ media. Honestly I’m really questioning why Lilia & Roh had to be like 15/16. Especially with how I felt it made no sense for ones so young to be given their responsibilities, also the ick factor of their “relationships” would’ve been avoided if they were bumped up to early 20s. That’s just me I freaking hate kids lol.
The Dhai poly stuff didn’t annoy me as much as it usually would. Probably because it wasn’t presented as a romance or “good” but a weird cultural thing. It was honestly so excessive too that I really couldn’t take it seriously enough to be annoyed with it. A poly relationship with 3 people sure, but marriages involving double digits??? Nah that’s crazy.
The Reverse Patriarchy of Dorinah was interesting to say the least. I’m equally disturbed by the people who think the author is some anti male feminazi writing out some revenge fantasy AND the people who do uncritically enjoy it as a “sexy” revenge thing. Both are gross. Hurley has written that she doesn’t buy into the “benevolent matriarchy”, that just because women as a class (not individual women) are in charge that doesn’t mean the society will be better for it. So she decided to portray a matriarchy that’s as putrid as all the other male dominated cultures we see. It also exposes some readers’ bias. When there’re fantasy stories with femicide, young girls being sold into child sexual slavery, rampant rape, and being victims of abusive men, nobody bats an eye. It’s seen as “normal” “just how things are” and those who criticise them are being sjws complaining about nothing. But flip the genders and suddenly people get that it’s wrong. I do feel that it got a bit extreme in getting its point across, there were aspects that just kept piling on that made me go “I get it!”
I loved Taigan he/she/ze wa Awesome. Go imortal amoral genderfluid assassin mage! Go!
The setting and worldbuilding was classic Hurley; queer, original and squishy.
Really appreciated the gnarly elements AND the appendix/glossary. Hurley knew she was throwing a lot of fantasy bullshit at the audience and prepared accordingly.
I’m one of those crotchety 25 year olds that really doesn’t like having kids/teens as significant characters in non-kids’ media. Honestly I’m really questioning why Lilia & Roh had to be like 15/16. Especially with how I felt it made no sense for ones so young to be given their responsibilities, also the ick factor of their “relationships” would’ve been avoided if they were bumped up to early 20s. That’s just me I freaking hate kids lol.
The Dhai poly stuff didn’t annoy me as much as it usually would. Probably because it wasn’t presented as a romance or “good” but a weird cultural thing. It was honestly so excessive too that I really couldn’t take it seriously enough to be annoyed with it. A poly relationship with 3 people sure, but marriages involving double digits??? Nah that’s crazy.
The Reverse Patriarchy of Dorinah was interesting to say the least. I’m equally disturbed by the people who think the author is some anti male feminazi writing out some revenge fantasy AND the people who do uncritically enjoy it as a “sexy” revenge thing. Both are gross. Hurley has written that she doesn’t buy into the “benevolent matriarchy”, that just because women as a class (not individual women) are in charge that doesn’t mean the society will be better for it. So she decided to portray a matriarchy that’s as putrid as all the other male dominated cultures we see. It also exposes some readers’ bias. When there’re fantasy stories with femicide, young girls being sold into child sexual slavery, rampant rape, and being victims of abusive men, nobody bats an eye. It’s seen as “normal” “just how things are” and those who criticise them are being sjws complaining about nothing. But flip the genders and suddenly people get that it’s wrong. I do feel that it got a bit extreme in getting its point across, there were aspects that just kept piling on that made me go “I get it!”
I loved Taigan he/she/ze wa Awesome. Go imortal amoral genderfluid assassin mage! Go!
The setting and worldbuilding was classic Hurley; queer, original and squishy.
Really appreciated the gnarly elements AND the appendix/glossary. Hurley knew she was throwing a lot of fantasy bullshit at the audience and prepared accordingly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, Excrement, and Vomit
rens_bookshelves's review against another edition
I really really liked the world building, but I didn't really care for the characters. Also the husband sex slave thing really turned me off
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
snowkestrel's review against another edition
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and War
Moderate: Misogyny and Slavery
tachyondecay's review against another edition
It pains me, because everyone is so hyped about Kameron Hurley, and I want to be hyped too. Alas, this first foray into her writing was not a successful venture. Despite spending exactly a week with this book, I am just barely halfway through. It was this realization that made me decide to cut my losses. I am not going to finish The Mirror Empire.
Principally, I just don’t care about any of the main characters and their fate. I genuinely do not care to find out how this book ends.
That isn’t just a problem with the characterization (which is poor) but also the plot, which is stretched thin. For example, Lilia’s entire plot in this first half of the book is “go back and forth between two travel companions, both of whom she hates, and ending up exactly nowhere.” Zezili is a fearsome general who spends her time whinging that her empress is going to get everyone killed, but after half a novel, she still hasn’t done anything about it. Likewise with Ahkio or Roh—these characters are moving slower than molasses.
I was in a reading slump earlier, one which Felix Ever After rescued me from. This book has threatened to send me spiralling back into the slump. Sigh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cannibalism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual assault
laisai's review against another edition
I got about 1/3 of the way through the book, trying very hard to see if it would get better. Perhaps it did in the end, but it was too dark and painful for me to read personally, though the world-building and especially the way the author wrote about gender was very, very interesting. In the end, there were just too many difficult, graphic topics for me to handle. Wish I would have known before starting that this is typical for Kameron Hurley's writing. The back-cover summary did not prepare me for the contents, unfortunately.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Death and Gore
alexalily's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Self harm, Slavery, and Blood