Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

9 reviews

chasinggrace's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

God, Nassun’s hatred for her mother kills me. Also, RIP ALABASTER😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism

bigofheartdumbofass's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Second time reading this, and damn is it so good still. It's been my favorite series for a decade, and there is a reason for that!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Hate crime and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death and Colonisation

ecmbeanie's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Racism, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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

5.0

The Obelisk Gate, book two in the Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin, built on everything I loved in book one and brought even more depth, complexity and heart-wrecking authenticity to each character. As I was thinking about how to describe the dominant themes in book two, I thought most of Beloved, by Toni Morrison, for how fearlessly both NKJ and Morrison explore the layered traumas of child loss and enslavement. I also kept thinking back to the second installment in Tracy Deonn's Legendborn Cycle, Bloodmarked, for how both NKJ and Deonn use fantasy to literally and explicitly call out colonization and the inter-generational trauma of enslaved peoples. NKJ has been very straightforward in her thoughts on the use of subtler forms of allegory to discuss racism in fantasy (as in, subtle doesn't work). In that vein, The Obelisk Gate leaves nothing to misinterpretation - this is a story about slavery.

At the start of The Obelisk Gate, our main character Essun has lost too many children, has sacrificed too much of herself, and has been hunted by too many of those she once loved, and her grief is all consuming. The tender moments between her and Alabaster destroyed me. And we finally get NESSUN in book two, and it's just as much of a gut punch as we expected. She gives up so much for survival - her "daughterhood," her childhood, her ideas of familial love. Through Nessun in particular, NKJ is constantly pushing us to examine our sympathies. Characters like Jija and Schaffa are head-spinning as we try to sort out good and evil in a world literally covered in gray ash.

And sweet, terrifying Hoa. I love him. I distrust him. I love him. I don't know.

Highly recommend this series and looking forward to book three!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Cannibalism

ergogretchen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Terminal illness

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Racial slurs, Violence, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cannibalism

studydniowka's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Nie znam piękniej napisanej fantastyki. Warto przeczytać tylko dla tego języka i dla tej narracji (w drugiej osobie!), żeby zrozumieć, jak poetycko opisać koniec świata…

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Cannibalism

fourfootedbeasts's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

vigil's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

not as good as the fifth season, but nowhere near bad. the entire book is a slowburn for the real plot coming in towards the end, but i didn’t mind what i was reading in the meantime.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

alayamorning's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism, Sexual content, and Cannibalism