overbooked207's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
đź“– The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin Book Review đź“–
2nd book of April 2022 and 14th of the year:
Picking up ten years after the events of the first book and following new characters, this sequel once again has phenomenal world-building and writing, an adventurous story about strength, love, and what it takes to earn forgiveness, and if you even can in some instances, and complex, interesting characters! I also really liked the connections to the first book, and the audiobook was amazing! So far, I still enjoy The Broken Earth trilogy more, but I will read and recommend everything by N.K. Jemisin, and if you haven’t read anything by her yet, I highly suggest doing so as soon as possible! TW for murder, violence, death, torture, body horror, cannibalism, rape, slavery, epidemic, incest, sexually explicit content, infidelity, sexual violence, confinement, pregnancy, police brutality, medical content/trauma, physical abuse, suicidal thoughts, suicide/suicide attempt, kidnapping, injury/injury detail, gaslighting, gore, grief, blood, religious bigotry, self-harm, war, and xenophobia📚⚔️🎨
2nd book of April 2022 and 14th of the year:
Picking up ten years after the events of the first book and following new characters, this sequel once again has phenomenal world-building and writing, an adventurous story about strength, love, and what it takes to earn forgiveness, and if you even can in some instances, and complex, interesting characters! I also really liked the connections to the first book, and the audiobook was amazing! So far, I still enjoy The Broken Earth trilogy more, but I will read and recommend everything by N.K. Jemisin, and if you haven’t read anything by her yet, I highly suggest doing so as soon as possible! TW for murder, violence, death, torture, body horror, cannibalism, rape, slavery, epidemic, incest, sexually explicit content, infidelity, sexual violence, confinement, pregnancy, police brutality, medical content/trauma, physical abuse, suicidal thoughts, suicide/suicide attempt, kidnapping, injury/injury detail, gaslighting, gore, grief, blood, religious bigotry, self-harm, war, and xenophobia📚⚔️🎨
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Torture, Gaslighting, Confinement, Incest, Medical content, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Infidelity, Cannibalism, Death, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Police brutality, War, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Slavery
anxiousnachos's review
dark
mysterious
4.5
4.5 stars. The first one is still my favourite but this was an excellent continuation of the series and a truly wonderful introduction to Itempas, the other god who we haven’t seen much of in the first book. The book itself is brutal and horrific and the ending especially so and I don’t know why I expected different because it makes sense. And yet I hoped, because this hurt.Â
There is one very problematic remark about domestic abuse implying women “choose” to take husbands who beat them and are stupid for doing so, which did sour an otherwise excellent read. This remark just made no sense coming from the character it did, and felt so out of touch. This is on page 330 of my copy.Â
Content warnings: suicide, suicide attempts, blood, violence, murder, body horror, kidnapping, cults, confinement, forced medical procedure, torture, indoctrination, one problematic remark about female domestic abuse victimsÂ
There is one very problematic remark about domestic abuse implying women “choose” to take husbands who beat them and are stupid for doing so, which did sour an otherwise excellent read. This remark just made no sense coming from the character it did, and felt so out of touch. This is on page 330 of my copy.Â
Content warnings: suicide, suicide attempts, blood, violence, murder, body horror, kidnapping, cults, confinement, forced medical procedure, torture, indoctrination, one problematic remark about female domestic abuse victimsÂ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Murder, Torture, and Violence
booksthatburn's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Broken Kingdoms is damn good. It's driven by relationships and conversation in a way that could slow down a lesser book, but here every interaction is filled with the weight of the past, whether spoken or unspoken. It knows when to rest and to move
Everyone has a past in a way that makes them feel real, like we have a snapshot of their lives and they were here before and will continue on afterwards. This, to me, is a hallmark of a well-written story with complex characters. Oree and Madding had a relationship in the past which has echoes now, but their current dynamic is clearly different than what it must have been before the story started. Shiny knows various people and gods in ways that speak to past relationships, whether casual or intimate, and we have enough information to inform our understanding of what is unsaid, but without constantly explaining backstory.
In trilogies, especially in series that are intended as trilogies by the time book two is written, there is usually a problem where book two isn't complete enough to stand on its own. Even in series I love, I've noticed this problem, and usually book three makes up for it in terms of the strength of the trilogy as a whole. But not here, book three won't have anything to atone for; The Broken Kingdoms is rich, complex, full enough to stand on its own while also building on the history from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.
Oree feels like a distinct voice from Yeine, in book 1. Her focus is different, her concerns are different, and her approach to obstacles is grittier, more direct. She is functionally blind, and I appreciated how her comparison between the magical sight she does have and what she guesses ordinary sight must be like made sense in context. It would have been easy for her (as a character written by a sighted person) to continually opine on what seeing must be like, but instead she only discusses it when she has magical sight and uses parts of the language around ordinary sight to try and get a better description of the unique manner of her sight.
It felt so good to read this book. I loved every minute of it and I'm very excited for The Kingdom of Gods.
Everyone has a past in a way that makes them feel real, like we have a snapshot of their lives and they were here before and will continue on afterwards. This, to me, is a hallmark of a well-written story with complex characters. Oree and Madding had a relationship in the past which has echoes now, but their current dynamic is clearly different than what it must have been before the story started. Shiny knows various people and gods in ways that speak to past relationships, whether casual or intimate, and we have enough information to inform our understanding of what is unsaid, but without constantly explaining backstory.
In trilogies, especially in series that are intended as trilogies by the time book two is written, there is usually a problem where book two isn't complete enough to stand on its own. Even in series I love, I've noticed this problem, and usually book three makes up for it in terms of the strength of the trilogy as a whole. But not here, book three won't have anything to atone for; The Broken Kingdoms is rich, complex, full enough to stand on its own while also building on the history from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.
Oree feels like a distinct voice from Yeine, in book 1. Her focus is different, her concerns are different, and her approach to obstacles is grittier, more direct. She is functionally blind, and I appreciated how her comparison between the magical sight she does have and what she guesses ordinary sight must be like made sense in context. It would have been easy for her (as a character written by a sighted person) to continually opine on what seeing must be like, but instead she only discusses it when she has magical sight and uses parts of the language around ordinary sight to try and get a better description of the unique manner of her sight.
It felt so good to read this book. I loved every minute of it and I'm very excited for The Kingdom of Gods.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Death, and Slavery
Minor: Sexual assault
CW for ableism, suicide, sexual assault, slavery, death.
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