Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

67 reviews

jess_always_reading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

Absolutely loved this story, I could hardly wait to get it from my local library after I finished book one and now I'm diving right into the third book (Stone Sky). Jemisin is such a gifted storyteller and her world-building is next level. There were also some wonderful twists and turns that I definitely didn't see coming. 

Highly recommend 10/10!

TW for some serious trauma (throughout the whole series it feels like) though not gratuitous. Mind the content warnings if it's important to you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Slavery, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Cannibalism

chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

f18's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Medical content

PTSD

snipinfool's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.25

This second book in the series took up where the first book left off. Essun, Hoa, Alabaster, Tonkee, and Lerna were living below ground in Castrima. Tensions continued as many of Castrima's residents were uneasy living with orogenes. The desolation above ground continued to threaten the lives of those barely surviving. Essun was reunited with and learned that Alabaster was responsible for the rift. He was slowly being turned to stone and eaten by the stone eater, Antimony, who cared for and protected Alabaster. Alabaster's fate was a consequence of the causing the rift and the current season. He hoped to be able to teach Essun what she needed to know to complete what he started. Alabaster wanted her to learn the special "magic" that allowed him to use the obelisks in the sky to complete the task. 

This book told the reader about what happened with Nassun and Jija. We learned in the first book that after Jija killed Uche, they left their village. No other information was given about them. Jija took them toward the south. When the rift hit, Nassun was able to save them by using her orogenic abilities. Jija was noticeably upset. He killed his son, Uche, when he suspected the child to be an orogene. Jija decided to take them to a place he heard could cure orogenes called, Found Moon. Once they arrived, the readers met up again with Schaffa, who was Essun's Guardian. He ran Found Moon with two other Guardians. Shaffa agreed to mentor Nassun and teach her how to improve her orogenic skills. Jija was led to believe that in order to be cured of orogeny, one must master the skills to an exceptional level. Jija allowed Nassun to train with the other young orogenes in order to master those skills and then expected her to cure herself.

Both Essun and Nassun learned and studied to improve their skills in hopes of changing the course of the season and allow those left to survive. Both used their skills to make changes, but they also created new problems for each to solve.

I read The Fifth Season at the beginning of the year and had forgotten so much more than I realized about the important details of the story. I found an online summary of that book that brought me back up to speed. I enjoyed The Obelisk Gate very much. The book was written the same style as in that it bounced back and forth between different different points of view. It wasn't as compelling as the the first book, but that is often the case. I am assuming this book was mostly about filling in the necessary information to take us to the final part of the story. I look forward to reading the final installment in the trilogy very soon so I don't have to scramble to remember the details necessary for this world and characters. I am very interested to see how this story ends.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence

thenextbookdilemma's review

adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cannibalism and Alcohol

gandalf_a's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Sexual content, Blood, Cannibalism, Alcohol, and War

sproutedpages's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child death and Grief

Minor: Cannibalism

Use of fictional, in-world racial slurs.

mrsjodihunter's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

Minor: Cursing

leguinstan's review

dark emotional 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

4.0

I am just amazed at how this series breathes new life into the epic fantasy genre AND the apocalyptic genre. The magic system is unlike anything I've read in other fantasy novels and the world-building is beautifully done *chef's kiss*. You really get a good sense of how the setting influences the behavior of individuals and the social mores of larger communities. I have a hard time picturing any of the characters existing in other fictional universes.

One of my biggest pet peeves in (post-)apocalyptic stories is the abundance of cartoonishly self-serving characters. I'm happy to say this is very much NOT the case in this series. While several character act in a self-serving manner I never got the sense that any of these characters were inherently selfish and each individual self-serving act is understandable considering the past experiences and current circumstances of these aforementioned characters.

I also love how there are not just two, but several groups in this novel with opposing goals and priorities. It's not just Essun and her allies vs. a singular group in direct opposition to her plans. I also really like that we got a better understanding of the stone eaters in this novel.

My only complaint about The Obelisk Gate in particular is that the pacing drags during the many discussions between Essun and Alabaster. Luckily the relationship and history between the two characters are absolutely fascinating and their discussions are very relevant to the plot. Regardless, a fantastic follow-up to The Fifth Season!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Genocide, Racism, and Cannibalism

Minor: Ableism and Sexual content

The racism is fantastical in nature and has very little to do with our real-world understanding of race. Ableism: so this is an apocalyptic setting and there is talk of physically disabled characters being a drain on resources and not contributing as much to the survival of their communities. Not a major theme in the novel, but it does come up several times. Cannibalism