Reviews tagging 'Death'

Aetherbound by E.K. Johnston

6 reviews

little_white's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Bullying, Eating disorder, and Child abuse

Moderate: War, Death, and Trafficking

Minor: Child death and Colonisation

al3xbug's review

adventurous dark hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

this is the type of book i think i'll be thinking about for a while- not because it was very good, but because a lot of the topics are unorthodox in contrast to mainstream books. they were definitely uncomfortable themes (forced pregnancy, calorie obsession, human trafficking). it was kinda fucked but also the complete opposite? nothing was resolved and the issues of the book were never expanded upon. the main plot point is pendt becoming happier. like... nothing else is focused on for long besides that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Trafficking, War, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Eating disorder, Slavery, and Torture

booksthatburn's review

challenging mysterious reflective 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

4.0

This is a trans-affirming sci-fi book with a premise revolving around someone who has the ability to (in certain contexts) manipulate genetics. It's lovely to read something that doesn't try to "fix" the trans character, but finds other solutions for the in-universe problems caused by their chromosomal situation. It's similarly understanding and cathartic around issues including but not limited to neglect and food restriction. The tagline is "There's a fine line between survival and cruelty", and the overall arc is of someone who was raised under the claim of survival-driven scarcity, slowly, in a zone of love and abundance, untangling which parts of her upbringing were actually just cruel. 

Major pieces of backstory and world-building are conveyed in a series of well-described but pretty dense infodumps, one at the very start and a few more sprinkled throughout the rest of the text. They felt a bit clunky but were sufficiently brief as to keep from being overwhelming. The overall effect works well and I love the main characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Sexism, Misogyny, Body horror, Medical content, Medical trauma, Trafficking, and Slavery

Minor: Child death and Death

From the book: “This book contains a scene of medical violence. Characters also obsess about food and count calories.”

nabecker13's review

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, and Body horror

Moderate: Death and Kidnapping

betweentheshelves's review

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

2.0

I feel like this had so much potential, but even though it was short, the pacing was off and not a lot happened until about 3/4 of the way through the book. There was a lot of focus on building the world, building these characters, but then I wasn't really sure what the point was? A lot of the exposition could have been cut down, and more of the plot points at the end expanded on more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Trafficking

Moderate: Bullying, Death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Grief and Pregnancy

Women are forced into pregnancy in this, and there are a lot of instances of counting calories.

victorianrogue's review

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death and Grief

Minor: Miscarriage and Trafficking