Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine

51 reviews

cloud_of_eden's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide, Blood, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Colonisation and Xenophobia

Minor: Alcohol

cryinginasexual's review against another edition

emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Loved it!! The characters are immediately very likeable and the focus on cultural differences through a mainly linguistic lens was super interesting. The ending felt satisfying and I’m excited to read the sequel!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia, Gun violence, Murder, and Blood

Minor: Grief

jjjreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Cultural appropriation, Classism, Police brutality, Confinement, Injury/injury detail, Death, Grief, Medical content, War, Xenophobia, Murder, Racism, and Suicide

Moderate: Self harm, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Cursing

pvbobrien's review against another edition

mysterious 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Colonisation, Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, Grief, and War

indeedithappens's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Sexual content, Death, War, Murder, Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Mental illness, Blood, Colonisation, and Injury/injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, and Classism

rmperezpadilla's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Suicide, and Police brutality

Moderate: Terminal illness, Mental illness, Violence, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Blood

ratatouilllie's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Colonisation, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Police brutality, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Violence, Medical content, and War

Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, and Genocide

maddiebusick's review

challenging tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Medical content, Grief, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, and Injury/injury detail

Minor: Police brutality, Alcohol, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Classism

jurizprudence's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

i had fun annotating this book, but i admit it caused me to finish this later than i initially planned. writing down my thoughts and guesses about the plot lines kept me invested in the story, most of the time, though i had trouble with the pacing and the court politics on some instances that i had to take breaks. the exploration of language, the tools, seduction, and horrors of empire, as well as mahit's inherent longing to belong in a civilization that was quite literally meant to alienate her, were impressively done—martine's passion about her book and the influences it was based on really seeped through the pages. excited to return to this world for the second book once i'm done rereading gtn and htn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Gun violence, Medical content, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

selfsoulfriend's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

I personally enjoyed it a lot, but I can see how it's not for everyone. The review on the cover describes it as a "space opera," which is misleading. Other than the fact that the main character is from a space station and it's about an interplanetary empire, there aren't really any space opera elements. The entire book takes place on one planet, mostly in one city; it's more of a political thriller/murder mystery with some sci fi elements. Again this is not a bad thing to me but I can see how some were disappointed if they were expecting something else. It was a dense, slow paced read that did get a little tedious at times, especially with the author's writing style. I enjoyed the main character getting thrown into a chaotic and mysterious situation, the gradual uncovering of what exactly happened, and seeing everything come together at the end.

The concept of imago machines was the most interesting part of the book for me-- I enjoyed that their space station has its own culture, customs, and technology. I liked how it clashed with the Empire's culture as a way of exploring the philosophical questions that come along with this sort of technology.

Spoiler

I did find it hard to believe that some random surgeon was able to successfully reinstall a technology that they'd never seen before, and that absolutely NOTHING went wrong with the procedure. Mahit was a little tired and disoriented for a few hours and that was the only side effect.....okay.

The one thing that really got on my nerves was the author's overuse of italics for emphasis. It disrupted the flow of my reading at times and most of the time I didn't think it was necessary.

I am looking forward to reading the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Violence, Colonisation, Death, Medical content, and Murder