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howwoolatthemoon's review against another edition
0.25
CONTENT WARNING: rape and sex slavery.
In a sense this review *might* be spoilers, but I'm not giving away major plot points. I will merely reveal some details that I believe the author means for the reader to discover gradually. But you, Dear Reader, deserve a Strong Content Warning!
In some ways this was inventive and an interesting world, but I couldn't at all say I enjoyed it. The first sister is part of an order of priestesses who are also sex slaves. While not uncommon historically, it's certainly not pleasant to imagine. Told by a female author, it feels less like the women are objectified for the sake of the male gaze. But still, I think I'd rather not read about such a brutal and terrifying situation. They're raised from children to become sex slaves, and fairly horrible abused while growing up. They have no choice in who they have sex with unless they get a powerful man to choose to "own" them. Unless or until they are owned by one man, their job is to hear the confessions of soldiers and then fuck them. The fucking is neither optional nor rare; it's an integral part of the confession/absolution. And they take confessions at apparently all hours of the day or night, often many times a day. They also are physically unable to talk -- ostensibly so that they don't give away the military secrets of their rapists (not that they ever use this term) -- but they use sign language among themselves and communicate often and in a very detailed way, so I don't feel super confident about those military secrets being kept.
So it's absolutely brutal, but it's all slightly softened because a woman wrote it. Men so often will write a rape scene A) for the male gaze, and/or B ) as an event that furthers the story of a man, so I generally try to avoid books by men that contain any rape scenes. I would hope that a woman's perspective on a rape that takes place as part of a story would help us to better understand things from her point of view, which is the more common experience I've had with reading non male authors. And yes, I suppose this did that. But to make this entire order of priestesses as sex slaves? And to make that fact so integral to the plot? I dunno. It's too much. And too terrifying. And too brutal. And too hugely necessary for the plot -- so... why write that plot?
Why?
Also, now that I think about it, this might be an entire whole full sized book about an order of priestesses that STILL didn't pass the bechdel test. I mean maybe it did, but the fact that I'm still trying to remember any conversation between two women that wasn't about either a specific man or about men in general... nope, I don't think it did. Huh.
Also, why?
This was set in a futuristic world with space travel and an interesting military structure. Women are in the military, with ranks high and low, without anyone treating them as weaker or incapable in any way. The military also is trained from childhood, and there's a kind of parallel there with the sisterhood. There's an element of colonialism, with an oppressed culture that doesn't have the same level of tech that the oppressors use. This could have been interesting to explore further. The novel examines the complicated nature of family power and dysfunction and defining oneself in adulthood as separate from your origins, and could've done more with that. Seems like the author was able to envision a world where women were not objects. But then, there's the sisterhood of sex slave priestesses as the main plot.
Why.
Anyway, some of the world building is super interesting and I would love to read a different book with some of the same elements, but I won't be reading the rest of this series and I wish I could get my time back.
(Also I've noticed that I tend to spend more time on reviews of books I disliked than books I loved, and I don't know how to feel about that.)
In a sense this review *might* be spoilers, but I'm not giving away major plot points. I will merely reveal some details that I believe the author means for the reader to discover gradually. But you, Dear Reader, deserve a Strong Content Warning!
In some ways this was inventive and an interesting world, but I couldn't at all say I enjoyed it. The first sister is part of an order of priestesses who are also sex slaves. While not uncommon historically, it's certainly not pleasant to imagine. Told by a female author, it feels less like the women are objectified for the sake of the male gaze. But still, I think I'd rather not read about such a brutal and terrifying situation. They're raised from children to become sex slaves, and fairly horrible abused while growing up. They have no choice in who they have sex with unless they get a powerful man to choose to "own" them. Unless or until they are owned by one man, their job is to hear the confessions of soldiers and then fuck them. The fucking is neither optional nor rare; it's an integral part of the confession/absolution. And they take confessions at apparently all hours of the day or night, often many times a day. They also are physically unable to talk -- ostensibly so that they don't give away the military secrets of their rapists (not that they ever use this term) -- but they use sign language among themselves and communicate often and in a very detailed way, so I don't feel super confident about those military secrets being kept.
So it's absolutely brutal, but it's all slightly softened because a woman wrote it. Men so often will write a rape scene A) for the male gaze, and/or B ) as an event that furthers the story of a man, so I generally try to avoid books by men that contain any rape scenes. I would hope that a woman's perspective on a rape that takes place as part of a story would help us to better understand things from her point of view, which is the more common experience I've had with reading non male authors. And yes, I suppose this did that. But to make this entire order of priestesses as sex slaves? And to make that fact so integral to the plot? I dunno. It's too much. And too terrifying. And too brutal. And too hugely necessary for the plot -- so... why write that plot?
Why?
Also, now that I think about it, this might be an entire whole full sized book about an order of priestesses that STILL didn't pass the bechdel test. I mean maybe it did, but the fact that I'm still trying to remember any conversation between two women that wasn't about either a specific man or about men in general... nope, I don't think it did. Huh.
Also, why?
This was set in a futuristic world with space travel and an interesting military structure. Women are in the military, with ranks high and low, without anyone treating them as weaker or incapable in any way. The military also is trained from childhood, and there's a kind of parallel there with the sisterhood. There's an element of colonialism, with an oppressed culture that doesn't have the same level of tech that the oppressors use. This could have been interesting to explore further. The novel examines the complicated nature of family power and dysfunction and defining oneself in adulthood as separate from your origins, and could've done more with that. Seems like the author was able to envision a world where women were not objects. But then, there's the sisterhood of sex slave priestesses as the main plot.
Why.
Anyway, some of the world building is super interesting and I would love to read a different book with some of the same elements, but I won't be reading the rest of this series and I wish I could get my time back.
(Also I've noticed that I tend to spend more time on reviews of books I disliked than books I loved, and I don't know how to feel about that.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Colonisation
readmeaplant's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
anniereads221's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, War, and Classism
peach_pie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, and War
forthesanityof1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
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
Oh god did I love this book. The premise really caught me in the beginning and I love the way the author engaged with the world-building over the course of the book to build into the plot issues as well. The way the language with the names of the different races was created particularly stood out to me. The plot was super intriguing in a nice mix of political intrigue, war, and personal stakes that made it a page-turner. I loved the writing style along with the three perspectives utilized by the author. First Sister's POV was my favorite but Lito and Hiro's were also really well done. I also appreciated the overall queer-ness of the book and world. I like that the ending especially had a lot of impact with reveals about a certain character and what actually happened. If I wasn't exhausted, I could draw a lot of parallels to issues we see in our world with queer, women, and more specifically trans issues as well. I'm dying to get my hands on the second one once it's out in paperback. If there was one thing for me to criticize, it was that the pacing sometimes reflected the author's intention to set up for the rest of the trilogy in a way that was a touch obvious, but that's being super nit-picky. Also hoping for a poly relationship in the end, so fingers crossed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Mental illness specifically refers to the revelation thatthebechdelbitch's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Huh. This was a tricky one. I really wanted to like it, and I do think part of the issue was that I had high expectations and I was also just super excited to read a story with good Non-Binary representation in it. But this book really reads like the deleted scenes selection of an epic sci-fi space opera. The set up is unique and fascinating but the story itself focuses on all the wrong parts of it. I was craving more information about so many things that I never found out about, and the bits I did know about were all conveyed through bloated narration instead of action and dialogue. (like the definition of telling instead of showing).
There are so many mature and complex themes in this book which really don't get the space to breathe and develop - such as consent, split personalities (a plot inclusion which unfortunately comes across as really superficial) and PTSD/war-related guilt and trauma.
This book is fine. It's fine. It's not bad. But I was just expecting so much better, and so this was a dissappointing read.
There are so many mature and complex themes in this book which really don't get the space to breathe and develop - such as consent,
This book is fine. It's fine. It's not bad. But I was just expecting so much better, and so this was a dissappointing read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Trafficking
ltrueblood's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Rape, Violence, and Kidnapping
solenodon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
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
Handmaids tale meets the expanse meets pacific rim
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Slavery, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Minor: Domestic abuse
utopiastateofmind's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I had no idea The First Sister was science fiction, but I gotta say the world building is one of my favorite elements. I adored the way Lewis unfolded this science fiction world of battling empires, The Handmaid's Tale vibes to the First Sister order, and the fighting duel partners. The First Sister is multiple POV and I couldn't pick my favorite. Seriously. They were all so vulnerable, so flawed, and struggling with loyalty. It's a story about favor and twisted responsibilities. Loyalty and ambition, futures and love.
Buddy read with Mel
The pacing of The First Sister kept my attention the entire way through. I think I finished this audio-book in like two days? The First Sister is about this seemingly never ending war, but how do we envision our futures? How do we fight for the right, the promise of a future? By the end of the book, I was so thoroughly impressed by the twists and turns. I can't think of an element I didn't love. The world building was thoughtful. All the characters have their flaws and dreams exposed on the page. It's queer AF and there is expert manipulation with some shocks I had to sit down for.
Buddy read with Mel
The pacing of The First Sister kept my attention the entire way through. I think I finished this audio-book in like two days? The First Sister is about this seemingly never ending war, but how do we envision our futures? How do we fight for the right, the promise of a future? By the end of the book, I was so thoroughly impressed by the twists and turns. I can't think of an element I didn't love. The world building was thoughtful. All the characters have their flaws and dreams exposed on the page. It's queer AF and there is expert manipulation with some shocks I had to sit down for.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Rape