Reviews tagging 'War'

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis

40 reviews

cetoria's review

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Rape, Trafficking, Colonisation, and War

chrisb913's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

This was an incredible read. I was hooked from the beginning and enjoyed the ride for quite a while, until the twists started coming one after another and it really transformed the experience. Linden created such a rich world that showcased all the uniqueness life has to offer. But at the same time, did not shy away from the atrocities and hatred committed by man. There were some characters I loved the entire time and others that took me on a rollar coaster of emotions. This is definitely a recommend and I am eager to read the rest of the series.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Medical trauma, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Rape, Transphobia, and Vomit

pengirl55's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, and War

jackiepreston's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and War

Moderate: Torture and Transphobia

prunechips's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful sad tense slow-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and War

vivelarevolution'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

3.5

This book felt like a romp through a fun but incredibly dark space opera fantasy. The worldbuilding was probably my favorite part of the book--it's so intricate!--but I loved the characters as well. I definitely had an easier time getting through the First Sister's POV than Lito's, possibly because Lito's scenes were much more oriented around combat? In general, I felt like I really got to know First Sister and get invested in her, but with Lito I felt like I was chasing scraps of intrigue scattered amidst a whole lot of swordfighting. I did not like the first-person audio recordings thing from Hiro much at all other than as a means to glean new information; I wasn't able to connect with Hiro as a character through them.

Despite the limited amount of narration that I specifically enjoyed, everyone and everything felt very well-developed and it was a fun world to get to know. I'll be checking out the second book for sure, but I'm nervous I won't like it unless it has a lot more time and focus on First Sister, Ofiera, maybe Hiro, and

Eden

.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Slavery, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

One of the main characters is essentially a sex slave of a religious order, but in the course of this book she is never raped/forced to participate in a sex act. There is an attempt made to force her, but she is able to prevent it. There are mentions of her having been raped & abused previously. There are also descriptions of medical experimentation and torture and the effects of that experimentation and torture. The people who experienced it were selected due to discrimination against their species.

mogojojo1013's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

This was so amazingly good. All of these characters are so diverse and three dimensional. The pacing is really good and the writing is beautiful. The amount of character growth that happens is just astounding, and we get great commentary on things happening in our world through this sci-fi lense. We get great looks at mental illness and disability as well which I always love seeing. I will need to get the second and third books in this trilogy immediately so I can find out what happens next!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and War

rattification's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, and Violence

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

thysparklyreads's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

I wanted to rate this book higher because I loved the Sisterhood and the First Sister herself. 
I was thrilled by the complexity of the world building with its characters at the beginning but soon I found myself dreading reading certain character's POV despite enjoying the character itself.

Choosing to make Hiro's POV audio messages instead of letters or something else ruined it. No one speaks that way. Felt so very info dumpy that every time which is unfortunate because I do love them.

Overall an alright read that is a good setup for the next installments.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, War, and Classism

Moderate: Physical abuse and Dysphoria

kassidyreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Medical trauma and War

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Abandonment