Reviews tagging Mental illness

The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin

16 reviews

madyou's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Child abuse, Injury/injury detail, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy and Cannibalism

jarshi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.25

The way the separate plotlines come together at the end of this book is so fucking satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Violence, Murder, War, Child abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child death

the_greywarren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

Holy. Shit. This is an excellent piece of fiction, and it has rocked me to the core (pun intended).
The story follows three people: Damaya, a girl with great gifts that the world hates her for; Syenite, a powerful student who wants nothing more than to prove her worth; and Essun, a mother looking for revenge.
Knowing nothing about this book is the best way to go into it. I only knew that it had good representation and was well written, so I suggested it for my book club, and boy was it amazing.
It is masterfully written, the story ties together in such a gorgeous way, and even though it's confusing at first, the payoff at the end is more than worth pushing through this confusion.
Immediately after finishing it I had to go back and read the prologue, and it was so satisfying.
This review is all over the place, but just read this book okay??
Oh and check trigger warnings, for the love of god. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Abandonment, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

ailsaod's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

5.0

 This book is really good but oh boy does it get dark. I've seen a lot f recommendations of this book but no one talks about the messed up stuff that happens. There were a few times I just had to put the book down and be like 'oh wow that is atrocious'. Warnings for

Spoiler

child deaths, implied paedophilia, referenced cannibalism, dubious/non-consensual sex and mass death from various natural disasters

If any of these are deal breakers for you then maybe steer clear as it can get a bit horrifying.

The writing of this book is excellent. It begins following three perspectives - which you quickly realise

Spoiler

cannot be happening simultaneously because only one of them is experiencing the actual END of the world!

and I really enjoyed figuring how the perspectives were connected. I suspect I was quite slow in figuring out the link between the perspective characters but it was still very satisfying and wasn't played as a shock twist at any point. There are also a few sections written with an omniscient narrator that were great as they served to put the very personal tragedy Essun is experiencing into context with the wider world. I found it impressive how these interludes were written in a very detached manner but still communicated the devastation that occurred and wow, is thinking about it too long scary!

I also really liked the setting. Clearly a lot of research had been done into natural disasters and what circumstances could cause a 'season'. The ruins of all the dead civilisations and the obelisks were also very intriguing and I am desperate to know more about how the stone eaters fit into all this. Will be thinking about this book for a while yet!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Violence, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cannibalism

There is a lot of mutually non-consensual sex but it is mostly only mentioned.

rorikae's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes

5.0

'The Fifth Season' by N.K. Jemisin is an incredibly well crafted fantasy book that introduces us to a unique world as everything begins to fall apart.
As the world ends, the story follows three perspectives. Damaya is pulled from her home and her family because she has a feared and mighty power. Brought to the Fullcrum, a school for people with her powers, she begins to learn how to control her gift. Syenite, a Fullcrum graduate, is sent by their leadership to complete a strange task with one of the most powerful men to come out of the Fullcrum's programs. And Essun, who finds her son murdered and her husband has fled with her daughter, begins a trek across the continent to find them so she can act her revenge and save her daughter. 
I am honestly kind of speechless over how good 'The Fifth Season' is. For a book that has a lot of high praise and has won the Hugo, 'The Fifth Season' lived up to every single expectation that I had and surpassed them. It is clear that Jemisin has crafted this world and this plot down to the smallest detail and gone through so much work to figure out the precise way to share details and unwrap the story. Second person perspective can be very temperamental but Jemisin makes it so that the story seamlessly flows with the other perspectives. 
It's hard to talk about this book without going into spoilers but it is so incredibly well paced and each reveal is set up throughout the pages before with questions and dropped hints. Honestly, I'm just in awe of the craft level of this book. If you have ever had any interest in this series or wondered if you would like it, I implore you to read it. It goes beyond all expectations and I cannot wait to pick up the next book in the series. I feel like I need to start it immediately. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Pregnancy

boglord's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Death, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Injury/injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Classism, Confinement, and Sexual assault

geekywoman14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

There are some very heavy parts to this book, but they add to the story in such a way I don't think it would be possible to omit them in any way. There is a transperson in the book, but they do not experience, at least not that is mentioned in major detail, dysmorphia. There is a brief mention of transphobia when

Spoiler

their parents quietly disown them, only in part because they are transgender, not the primary reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Slavery, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Gaslighting, Injury/injury detail, Bullying, Colonisation, and Confinement

Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, Classism, Pedophilia, Stalking, Abandonment, Animal death, and Sexual violence

elica's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

zarazim's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

Moderate: Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Slavery, and Torture

Minor: Animal death, Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

plumpaperbacks's review against another edition

I’ve heard so many good things about Jemisin’s work and was eager to finally read one of her books. Unfortunately, though the premise was intriguing, I just couldn’t get into this book. Of the three perspectives, one was in second person, which I’ve learned this year that I just can’t stand. The other two were in third person and thus easier for me to read, but I still found them rather slow and boring.

Representation

• protagonist and side characters of color

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Child death, Child abuse, Body horror, Grief, and Mental illness