Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis

23 reviews

bwray1's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood

major_tom's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

2.75

This book has been in my TBR pile for some time and I’m so glad I finally got to it! 

At first, I was afraid the lore would be too confusing - I am not very familiar with space-related fiction and never had much interest in it. Here, the story started straight away - I liked how we discovered things along the way, without long and boring history lessons. Each chapter has a short passage before it, which could be a letter, a quote, or other short piece that gave more insight into the world. I love good exposition and, I’m my opinion, Linden A. Lewis here did a great job.

The main character are interesting, flawed and have their own priorities and desires. There are some flaws, but I’ll talk about them later.

I loved how unique this world is. It really stands out with how logical historical development of each nation is.

Why the religion is the way it is, or why there is no AI anymore.

And guess what? It’s THAT easy to include queer folks! And it only enriches the plot, the world building and everyone’s satisfaction from reading.

However, I got quite disappointed by the end. The ending felt rushed, used mostly explanation rather than exposure, and gave a bit of flat character development. I saw how some things before could be linked to the plot twists, but still it wasn’t satisfactory. I felt that the ending was made that way to create reason for the next book. I am afraid that the next books will turn to obvious conflicts and will greatly worsen in world-building. In my opinion, the book by itself is great as stand-alone (if the ending was changed). I hope I’m wrong, because I still enjoyed it most of the way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

catsy2022's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and War

Minor: Vomit

ericadawson's review against another edition

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

3.75

Actual review is 3.9 stars. The day I'll be able to use any increment I want is the day I'll rejoice. 

This review contains spoilers--and my opinion is overall impacted by the fact that I wasn't able to finish this in a timely fashion.

I enjoyed The First Sister, although the triple POV felt off-balance to me as I much preferred First Sister's perspective over Lito's and Hiro's, but we inevitably got more of Lito and Hiro's development than First Sister's.

The plot is enjoyable, and there are many moving parts without those parts colliding and making the reading experience confusing or unclear. I enjoyed the worldbuilding because it didn't feel too large like in some other scifis, but it wasn't contained to just Earth and the Moon like some others. The history was rich without being overwhelming, and the author did a good job of staying focused on the parts of the lore that were actually relevant (although I did forget sometimes that this was a war over resources, first and foremost). I felt Lito's transition to treason was a bit speedy, but both Hiro's and First Sister's plot twists were excellent.

The voice was strong, the pacing good, and the internal and external conflicts felt real. A very enjoyable book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and War

Minor: Sexual content

kaylamoran's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

Outer space books and movies aren't usually my thing, but I really liked this!  It was super unique, and I didn't see the plot twist coming at all.  4.5 stars instead of 5 because I found Lito's perspective a little boring sometimes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and War

Minor: Racism, Transphobia, Vomit, and Murder

rebeccajost's review

adventurous dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Torture, Medical content, Trafficking, and Death of parent

implied adult/minor relationship, regarding trasphobia & dysphoria:

surgical transition and changing of someone's body without their consent

bookwisp's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.5

Vibe:  Yearning. Dramatic. Defiant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual assault

mandkips's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense

• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Minor: Sexual content and Transphobia

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.5

 - It's hard to summarize THE FIRST SISTER. It's set in a huge, complex galaxy with two factions at war with each other, and we see those two sides intersect throughout the book, through defections, strategizing, secrecy and more.
- This is one of those dual POV books where you're always eager to return to the action of whoever's storyline you're in. Both First Sister and Lito's stories were so gripping.
- There are a couple of great plot twists: even if you see them coming, this book is fantastically plotted.
- I feel like I am not doing this book justice, lol. It's great! Just hard to condense into an IG caption. If you love space opera and romance and discussing power and inequality through sci-fi, go get it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

readmeaplant's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail