Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Saison d'os by Samantha Shannon

66 reviews

kmedusa's review against another edition

I just did not connect with the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

brotestantethic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

Magical!! Fantasy readers who loved Harry Potter as children, but who now want something more grown (and unproblematic) will absolutely love this book. Shannon is a master of world building and story telling. I fell in love with the characters of this book, and despite its size and wordiness, it is a quick read. This certainly makes fantasy reading less daunting and more accessible. I wasn’t expecting to root for the main love interests, but I couldn’t help myself by the end. Only knocked half a star for some clunkiness and convenient solutions which at times drew me away from the story. Other than that this is a stunning first installment, and I have already ordered the rest of the series!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Slavery and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexual assault

mmidi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

thegillbird's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Violence

julienicole1106's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sauvageloup's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

a solidly good book, pretty gripping and will read the next one

pros:
- the worldbuilding is very imaginative, with the whole mix of clairvoyance, angels, emim, ghosts/poltergeists and rephaium. I liked all the different types of clairvoyance and reading about Paige using her gift. the Rephs were also imaginative, seeming to be a strange mix of vampire/angel/demon/clairvoyant.
- I thought the main relationships, friendship and romance, were nicely built up and not rushed, but sign posted well.

I did expect that Warden would be the love interest, but it developed nice and slowly and I could see why Paige began to trust him slowly.

- the writing was overall clear and gripping with moments of being poetic. i wanted to keep reading, once I was 50 or so pages in.
- I did like the side characters, Liss, julian, seb and Michael were all interesting.

cons:
- the biggest issue I think was the feeling that the plot wandered too much. it felt like we tumbled from one event to another without any particular structure, and so the tension felt off, as big events happened without any build up.
- lost track of who everyone was with such a big cast, and I was also still unsure about what exact powers paige and the rephs had.
- it felt like there were a lot of holes in explanations, with a lot of slang used without being explained. a certain amount makes sense, but I feel that it tipped over into too much. i had a lot of questions and even when there were answers, they seemed somewhat arbitrary. also why was Arcturus still being called Warden at the end?
- there was also a big worldbuilding dump at the start, which I was told about and wasnt too bad, but it definitely could've been handled smoother.

- I know that this was written in 2013, so it's not really surprising, but there were serious issues with the age gaps in Paige's relationships,  with Nick driving away with her from school when shes like 15? and Arcturus being very very much older.

- also, if I'm being honest, I didnt find paige very interesting. yes shes spunky and she is shown as being kind to Seb, Liss and Julian, and yet she still felt extremely 2D, I didnt really feel for her as a full person and the emotional impact of some events was definitely lessened bc of it.
(- I'm definitely curious to see what Shannon changed in her new rewriting of the book)

overall, a gripping and pretty original thriller, but with some shaky plotting and too big cast. but I've got the mime order and will most likely be reading it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

buud_w0rm's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This feels like my first real high fantasy book with so much language and lore and characters heavily involved in the story. Sometimes it did take me out of it when I couldn’t remember a character or understand parts of the language. Besides this, I really enjoyed the world and am curious to see what’s in store for Paige and if she’ll meet Arcticus again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Sexual content and Slavery

frankisilliterate's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

madeleinekl's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A really cool concept for a 'paranormal fantasy' (something I hadn't come across before). Vaguely steam-punk vibes but not in an annoying way. The main character was a little too powerful/perfect (as well as being, of course, a beautiful thin young girl), but that's how it seems to always go in these books! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery and Violence

loquaciousleon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

Easily became one of my favorite books of all time. Captivating world-building, and personal connection to the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Blood, Classism, and Deportation