Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin

41 reviews

dkamada's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Rating: 3/5 stars

The conclusion to the BROKEN EARTH trilogy.

There was a lot to enjoy about this trilogy: the concept was fascinating, the writing was beautiful, and several of the characters were really complex and interesting. Unfortunately, I felt like this third book fell pretty flat, especially when compared with the rest of the series.

I don’t mind a slow burn, but this one took forever to get going, and even once it did I felt like so much was left unsaid or open-ended. I really didn’t like the ending and don’t feel like it was anywhere close to the payoff I was expecting after the first two books.

In short, I’d still recommend this trilogy and I’m glad I read it, but can’t help feeling a bit let down.

CW: Violence; gore; death; injury; pregnancy; slavery

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kalagrace's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

A very satisfying ending to the trilogy. Sad but hopeful. 

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lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring 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

Sobbed my way through the last chapter. 
This author is a genius. The world-building is wildly thorough. I know that I need to re-read this series so that I can understand it better because I do feel like some of it went over my head. She has such a powerful understanding of humanity and families that keeps wrecking my shit. 
This last book was honestly hard to want to read--because I just didn't like reading Nassun's POV (it's still excellent! I just wanted to spend time with Essun, but I know how important Nassun's POV was there)--but every time I picked it up, I didn't want to put it down. 

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ktmanos's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

5.0

This series was so unique. Very grim but so rewarding to read. I loved the use of 1st- 2nd- and 3rd-person perspectives, the masterful blending of fantasy and science fiction, and the poignant commentary on power, control, and abuse.

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f18's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful 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

Tempted to take away a star just for
just throwing away Best Character Lerna like that D: At minimum he deserved for Essun to be looking at him when it happened.
But I'm not that petty. I'm not...

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nerdy_reader_9571's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

Of the three emotionally devastating books in the trilogy, this one hit me the hardest. The history of this world provided in the third installment pulled together so much of the story for me.

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sarasreading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

Wow, I can't believe I've finished this trilogy. What a ride it was! I feel like I've gone through something with these characters. Every step of this journey was masterful. 

I was so happy to finally get some answers in this one, and that we start getting them right from the beginning. The way Jemisin seamlessly blends multiple genres, POVs, and timelines was just so good. And the stakes just kept raising and raising while still being at its core (ba-dum-bum) an intimate mother-daughter story. 

The trilogy as a whole explores so many systemic problems from our own past and present that are mainly caused by those with power who continually chose their own interests over what's right. It's incredibly complex in its ideas, scope, and characters. Every character is layered, which just draws you in even deeper.

I got all the answers I wanted, and the ending was really satisfying to me. The first book might still be my favorite in the trilogy (that twist still has my jaw on the floor!), but the entire series is amazing. I can't wait to read more from this author!

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agedmordorblue's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

Phew, that was a tough conclusion to this trilogy. After two books of ash and despair, I had to take a small break, which doesn't mean this is an amazing story! It definitely is a genre of its own, sitting somewhere between fantasy, sci-fi and apocalypse survival. The book tackles many difficult and distressing topics in a brutal and confronting way. I think it really distinguishes itself from the mass of fantasy books out there that have very bland messaging in the end. Highly reccomend!

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gandalf_a's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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


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