Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - The Never Tilting World

I am having a really hard time figuring out what to say about this book. I think it's a case of my experieincing self and remembering self differing - I very much enjoyed this book while reading, but looking back I'm having a hard time saying exactly why. I think I mainly enjoyed the world and the plot and the creative mythology involved, because trying to write about the characters, I'm realizing that in retrospect they're all pretty bland.

There are four alternating perspectives in this book - Haidee and Odessa, the young goddesses, and Arjun and Lan, the goddesses' love interests and traveling companions.

Odessa, the goddess of the eternal night side of the planet, is the most memorable because of the great first-person narration of a character going mad. She's not unlikeable at the beginning - when the book opens, she's sheltered, bookish, trying to rebel a little against her mother's control, and not at all sure what to do about her crush on Lan. But Rin Chupeco does an absolutely stunning job with first-person narration of a person losing her self and not even realizing as she becomes darker and more unhinged. She became not at all likeable as a person but absolutely compelling as a character.

Lan, Odessa's love interest and one of her traveling companions, is traumatized. I really can't remember much else about her. Well, that and she's there to provide perspective to how unhinged Odessa gets as the story progresses. Lan led an exploring expedition, everyone except her died, and she has a lot of trauma around that. The trauma is handled really well, but it also seems to be her main personality trait.

Haidee, the goddess on the eternal day side of the planet, is Odessa's complete opposite. She enjoys engineering and mechanical tinkering, is full of compassion for everything and everyone, and embodies the bright sunniness of her side of the planet without going over the line into scorching desert. She wasn't a stand-out character, but she was definitely likeable - not a fascinating person or a charismatic personality, but honestly the only character in the book that I would want to be friends with.

Arjun, Haidee's traveling companion, was definitely the weakest of the four perspectives. That doesn't mean that he was bad, I just found him less compelling. He was a lot of the "orphan grows up with a bunch of other orphans raised by one adult and gets good at fighting and living a hardscrabble life" stereotype, with a few interesting additions that just barely keep him from being cardboard. He didn't have much motivation, though, which I think is why he was the least compelling. I also think his perspective got the least page time, but I didn't count pages to see if that was accurate.

I didn't hate any of these characters, but it was really the concepts that made me enjoy the reading experience. The magic system is really interesting (even if I didn't fully understand it), I loved the idea that the world is ruled by women who are supremely powerful goddesses and yet are mortal and every so often must be replaced by their daughters, and there are a lot more layers around the Breaking - when the world stopped spinning and divided into two kingdoms of eternal day and eternal night - and how it happened than appear on the surface. Even the settings are interesting, from a frozen fortress to seas full of krakens, golden cities protected by glass domes to creatures swimming through oceans of sand instead of water, there are a lot of really fascinating and creative fantasy things in this world. For me, the characters were more of a vehicle to explore this world and uncover its secrets, and that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Reading book two isn't high on my priority list, but I do intend to get to it eventually. The characters weren't stellar, but they were perfectly okay, and I wouldn't object to spending another book with them, especially since I have so many unanswered questions about what happened to break the world and what secrets Odessa and Haidee's mothers are hiding. And the broken world was such a cool setting, I'm excited to explore it more in book two.

Content Warnings

melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.75

I loved this book so much! The plot is so interesting and I absolutely love the world building. Rin does SUCH a good job making these totally immersive worlds with their own lore and details without the feeling of info-dumping! In fact, most of what we know about the world we learn through the eyes of the four pov characters, who are all completely distinct! I love that. It can be really hard to do a good job distinguishing between pov's when there are a lot of them, and I didn't think this book had that problem at all!

I was definitely surprised by a lot of what happened but in a completely good way! I loved the characters and their relationships. This book was great and I can't wait for the sequel!

Content Warnings

alicelalicon's review against another edition

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mysterious tense 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

achingallover's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

1.0

Content Warnings

kazkae's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

olivialandryxo's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Rarely do I read 100 pages of a book and predict it will be a 5 star read. This was one of those times. I was enthralled by The Never Tilting World from the first chapter, and as I continued reading, I could hardly bring myself to put down the book to do anything else. While this isn’t my first time reading one of Chupeco’s books, it is the first time they’ve completely hooked me with their lovely writing, intricate magic system and world-building, and complex, lovable characters. I can honestly say that I adored this book in every way, and I can’t think of a single element I disliked.

Some authors struggle, in my experience, with successfully writing multiple, distinct points of view. Chupeco, though, skillfully balanced the perspectives, personalities, and emotions of each of their four protagonists. I was fully invested in each character and enjoyed reading from every perspective. Major props to them for that.

Right now I don’t think there’s much else I can say, as I’m just in awe of the story I read. Despite being almost 500 pages, I sped through it in a little over a day. The last time I pulled that off was with a highly anticipated sequel back in August, and before that, I’m
not sure.

The Never Tilting World is a phenomenal fantasy novel, full of everything that makes a story memorable, that also demonstrates the power of sisterhood and comments on some relevant topics along the way. I can’t stop thinking about it, or recommend it enough. Absolutely a hidden gem. I’m looking so very forward to the sequel!

Representation

full cast of characters of color
chronically ill lesbian protagonist
amputee protagonist
bisexual protagonist with PTSD
sapphic relationship

Content Warnings

fromjuliereads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

THIS WAS SO GOOD! Why is everyone sleeping on this book!? I really enjoyed this.
The premise is that the world has been broken, there is a broken climate because the planet doesn't turn anymore, and there are these two goddesses with magic rhat that don't know about each other.

This storyline was so unique to me! Somehow this book mashes fantasy and dystopian, with a sprinkling of sci-fi because of the broken world, and it works so well!?!?

I think all of these characters have become new favourites. Can I even pick a duo!? I really like Haidee. She is so knowledgeable and she likes mechanika and is just a badass, but so sensitive and empathetic. And Arjun is so funny and has that total tough guy exterior! Lan is a badass and I love her. Odessa I loved for the beginning and then things took a turn, but she is a very well done character!

The twists and betrayals were fantastic. The side characters and creatures they encounter were very well done. And this world! I am so intrigued by it and can't wait to learn more in book 2!!
I am someone who LOVES to reference maps when I am reading, so I found it frustrating there is no compass on the map. Haidee keeps talking about them heading west in the book, but looking at the map it looks like they are going northeast!? It bugged me to no end. But no matter, that was quite small.

This has LGBTQ+ rep, disability and chronic illness (of the magical kind) rep, discusses grief and mental health, and of course climate change with the broken world. Loved it!

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