sofipitch's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
4.25
I struggled a little orienting to the world in the beginning, and that is on purpose, but a lot of what is supposed to keep your attention are these large military space battles, which isn't necessarily my favorite thing. But the end when things make it all come together is excellent. It also contains an interesting and nuanced portrayal of colonialism and the subtle/cultural ways a colonizing force can take power as well as horrible war crimes. I think if the Texicalaan series is the cultural aspect and Baru Cormorant is the brutality, this book is the most realistic for how well it captures both
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, and War
Moderate: Dysphoria
hevs's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
Czekałam na taką książkę chyba dekadę. Jest łogiń, nie czekam na polskie wydania dalszych tomów tylko lecę czytać w oryginale.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Gore
halfcactus's review against another edition
dark
5.0
WHAT THIS BOOK IS: a slow-burning revenge story in space
WHAT THIS BOOK HAS: loyalty, animal AI, a literally calculating protagonist who has an unironic love for dramas, animal AI, crises of pastry, 2 people sharing a body
This was great! The visual detail and worldbuilding are amazing; I kept getting distracted imagining how the signifiers change forms. At some point I had to stop reading just to take in the description of a sinister candle (whose existence gave us a deeper sense of the history and context of the current regime).
The editing is very *chef's kiss*. The entire novel is a product of conscious, careful choice, no scene wasted.
WHAT THIS BOOK HAS: loyalty, animal AI, a literally calculating protagonist who has an unironic love for dramas, animal AI, crises of pastry, 2 people sharing a body
This was great! The visual detail and worldbuilding are amazing; I kept getting distracted imagining how the signifiers change forms. At some point I had to stop reading just to take in the description of a sinister candle (whose existence gave us a deeper sense of the history and context of the current regime).
The editing is very *chef's kiss*. The entire novel is a product of conscious, careful choice, no scene wasted.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide and Gore
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
2.0
can't tell if I just have no brain power at the moment or if the worldbuilding and plot legitimately are never explained in a way that makes sense. want to maybe give it another shot in the future to see if my feelings change, but for now, just kind of impenetrable
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Death, Murder, Gore, and War
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Rape
Minor: Child death, Torture, Sexual content, Suicide, Ableism, Transphobia, and Dysphoria
bluejay21's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and War
Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault
olityr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Rape
intoblossom's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-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
3.0
Mostly for the worldbuilding.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Gore, and Gun violence
Moderate: Genocide and Torture
Minor: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, and Suicide
ailsaod's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book took a bit of getting into - the first chapter is set in a battle scene in which horrible things that are both gory and confusing happen to the soldiers. It took quite a while to figure out what the deal was with this book (when people say it is ancillary justice crossed with divergent they are certainly right!). This combination sounds improbable and when I first saw it did not fill me with joy but it is more like Ancillary Justice (in that the setting is a massive evil space empire and everyone is queer) with the faction system being a little more complex than that of Divergent and there is a bunch of stuff a bit like astrology? I'm not a fan of astrology so those elements took a bit of getting used to. Lee also has a somewhat disorienting way of progressing a story which was the only thing that stopped me from giving this book five stars. Sometimes scenes or joins between scenes were a little disorienting or I found it difficult to visualise what was happening with the tactics.
However, despite these obstacles in the way of my enjoyment I still had a great time reading this book. Something about Lee's characters made me get very attached to them in very short amounts of time - even minor side characters - so when they inevitably met a nasty end I was like :( . Cheris and Jedao are the main characters and I liked both of them (for very different reasons!). Jedao is terrifying! From the beginning we know his reputation while his motivations are very much unknown and this combined with him basically being a ghost make him a little scary already. Then Lee wrote a couple of terrifying scenes and the I was feeling just as scared as Cheris! Jedao is the kind of person MCU Loki wishes he was! I think Lee does a good job explaining why Jedao went on his murder spree without forcing the reader to sympathise.
I would advise anyone who doesn't like reading about genocide, weapons of mass destruction (and their gory effects on squishy humans) to maybe skip this one as although the way people are killed is very abstract it is still quite disturbing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Colonisation, Genocide, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Dysphoria, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Torture
mdpenguin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I'm not that into straight up war stories, but this was very clever. I enjoyed the notion of complex mathematical models of calendars and holidays creating exotic physical effects that can be harnessed as tools and weaponry. A lot of the story, though, felt choppy. There were parts that the author really wrote well but there were good chunks here and there that felt a little underdeveloped. As much as I enjoyed it, I wasn't going to read the rest of the series until I got to the end, which unexpectedly drew me in despite the fact that I was expecting the ending. It was the way that it happened that made me really want to see where it's going to go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, War, and Gore
Minor: Rape and Emotional abuse
cinnamonandpancakes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
4.75
This book!!! The only reason I didn't give it a full 5 stars is that some points I found were unnecessarily slow, but for the most part this book was brilliant in worldbuilding and character work.
This is very much a 'first of a trilogy' plot, with an overarching plot laid wide across the end but in such a satisfying way I can't help but adore it.
Cheris and Jedao are tricky characters but they were very compelling all the way through, even when I thought one or both of them were evil!
This is not a book to read for a simple story of good and evil, many awful things are caused by protagonist and antagonist aligned characters, but it is excellently constructed and a joy to watch all the moving parts fall into place.
This is very much a 'first of a trilogy' plot, with an overarching plot laid wide across the end but in such a satisfying way I can't help but adore it.
Cheris and Jedao are tricky characters but they were very compelling all the way through, even when I thought one or both of them were evil!
This is not a book to read for a simple story of good and evil, many awful things are caused by protagonist and antagonist aligned characters, but it is excellently constructed and a joy to watch all the moving parts fall into place.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, Gore, War, Death, Murder, and Rape
Minor: Suicide