Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Het recht van de Radch by Ann Leckie

23 reviews

blacksphinx's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I have a hard time talking about this book. Some parts of it are simply stunning - the way action is tracked in first person across multiple points of view at the same time! - while I find character actions and motivations to be muddled. So much of the opening present-day section where Seivarden makes a mess of things and is a terrible person and yet Breq continues to keep them around? When even she doesn't understand why? Infuriating. But I think I care enough to keep going and see how the overall plot shakes out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Slavery, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Xenophobia, Vomit, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Drug abuse, Genocide, and Medical content

vigil's review against another edition

4.0

this was a book that i had bounced off of at least 3 times before i actually managed to read it, but i’m glad i finally finished it. i was really impressed with how ann leckie managed to handle the pacing of this book

as the two timelines each had their own individual tone, pacing, and lengths. i did notice however that many of the so called “climaxes” occurred when the other timeline slowed down. for some people this may help with feeling overwhelmed, for others it may seem like you’re simply biding time until the other timeline returns. i was fine with both personally. the present timeline was noticeably slower and more “meandering” so to speak. leckie has a tendency to have a rapid pace pick up towards the ends of her stories, preceded by consistent dread.

a lot of this book focused on personhood, what it looks like in the context of culture (both your own or otherwise) and it’s ties to imperialism and “citizenship.” i liked the extra translation notes on the raadchi language, and how the language is also used in a way the specifically empowers the empire. i don’t think we got much, if any at all, answers to this personhood question, so i assume these will carry on into the following books. i also don’t think breq has contemplated it in any sort of meaningful way

but i did like her speaking against the condescending compassion offered to her. what is the life that was stolen from her? and what are the ways she should act and live now, having been given something like that life? unsubtle thematic statements but idgaf subtlety =/ quality.

i found certain parts of the narrative more confusing than they needed to have been within the book, which was made all the more jarring when breq or another character would begin an infodump so to speak. this was less of an issue with breq, as that matches her speech patterns but it was rather apparent with everyone else. the opening especially is so jarring i wouldn’t blame anyone for not reading past it. i didn’t for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

bel017's review against another edition

Stressful. Message seems to be 'evil is bad'.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Grief

kitkathy24's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Genocide, Colonisation, and Classism

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jackie_marion's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

julesadventurezone's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Kept me pleasantly confused for a long time and then absolutely delivered with its explanations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and War

sincetheflood's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious 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

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Genocide

Minor: Body horror, Vomit, and Grief

lbelow's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense

5.0

An excellent book. I understand why it's gotten so many accolades! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

violerwolf's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I absolutely adored this story. Truly gripping in how it navigates the politics of the military industrial complex through both the characters within and the literal instrument of that complex: the ancillaries. One Esk is a fascinating character to follow and I love how we split between these two storylines, One Esk’s current mission with Seiverdan and One Esk’s past on Ors. The way the memory weaves together with the present day, highlighting the themes and dynamics in both, really made the story feel in conversation with itself. I do think the ending is a bit anticlimactic, but I often find that books I really love have disappointing endings. Definitely give this a read still though! I’m super excited to start the sequels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Medical content and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, and Alcohol

This whole book is about imperialism and colonialism and all of the horror that comes with that. The writing isn’t super vivid for a lot of these, but the book doesn’t shy away from discussing these topics. I’d like to say another TW for loss of control/bodily autonomy.