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cheekmeat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death and Violence
chasinggrace's review against another edition
- 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? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
imjumokay's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Blood and Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Transphobia, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Dysphoria
laure_frompariswithbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual violence
Minor: Cannibalism
waite_from_eve's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Format: Audible Audiobook
Length: 15 hours, 27 minutes
Series & Book#: The Broken Earth, book #1
Days to Read: 2
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jesimin is stories within stories. In the story we start with, the world is ending for Essun, primarily on a deeply personal level as she comes home to find her son, Uche, dead and her husband and daughter missing. We find out that Essun is an old hand at navigating world-ending circumstances because she has been here before.
The land Essun lives in, The Stillness, suffers from what are called Fifth Seasons where the land turns on itself and the people who live there, creating unhospitable living conditions. This has caused the people of The Stillness to live in constant fear of the next Fifth Season where they are continuously prepping for what could happen next. Not every iteration of a Fifth Season is the same, there has been a Choking Season where volcanic eruptions blanketed the world in ash, an Acid Season where the volcanic eruptions were so strong that the waters became acidic, and a Fungus Season where the eruptions happened during monsoon season and caused fungal spreading that wiped out food supplies.
Just as Essun is discovering her broken family, something is happening. Something that could lead to another Fifth Season. In her gut, Essun knows this season will be incredibly devastating and last much longer than previous seasons. Now, she has to set off looking for her daughter amidst the terror and struggles of a world-ending apocalypse.
===============
Incredible world-building and character presentation. Absolutely reading the next book!
Jemisin has given us a beautifully heart-breaking world and the people who inhabit it. This is a world where people can't grow too much because of the constant threat of the next Fifth Season. They are stuck in a continuous cycle of preparation, living through a Fifth Season, and recovery, and Jemisin outlines what that does to a world on the level of the people collectively and individually. She also shows us the oppression of the Orogenes and what that has led to.
I can't imagine having to live in a world like this, but Jemisin brings it to life beautifully. This was a book that could not be put down and I will be adding it to my list of books I love to reread.
===============
How my rating system works:
To start with, the rating system I use isn't strictly /my/ system. I use the CAWPILE system created by Gintare Zuromskaite over at Book Roast. I took the system she has and tweaked it just a smidge so that the questions work for my brain a bit better. You can watch G talk about the CAWPILE system here: https://youtu.be/iZhinxtTMFQ?si=hKgxQkjB3HEQO-1Y
What is CAWPILE?
CAWPILE is a system where each letter in the acronym is a section that covers different aspects of your reading. The sections (for a fiction reading) are C(haracters), A(tmosphere), W(riting), P(lot), I(ntrigue), L(ogic), and E(njoyment). Each section has 3 questions for you to think about while you're reading/reviewing. Based on how you answer the questions, you assign each section a rating from 0-10 then find the average of the sections. This gives you a 0-10 rating for the whole reading which is then converted into a 0-5 star rating.
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Violence, and Murder
tasig's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, War, and Classism
spellbindingtomes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and War
lahars_little_library's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
ilwaad_y's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia
fluffernutterfriday's review against another edition
- 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
I really don't even know what to say.
There aren't words.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy