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booksthatburn's review against another edition
- 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
I continue to be impressed with the worldbuilding in this series. This explains thing things about the Presger Translators which are completely consistent with events in previous books, making it clear that much of the underlying situation had been thought out well in advance. I love it when an author clearly has already figured out their world at a level of detail that I usually don’t have to worry about as a reader. The internal consistency is so nice.
Enae was eir grandmaman's caretaker, but grandmaman is dead, and Enae is sent to find a Presger Translator who has been missing for 200 years. No one expects e to find them, but e wants to do a good job anyway.
Qven is meant to mate and become a Preger Translator; all of their development has been aimed at this goal. An incident leaves them altered in a way that the adults do not find acceptable, and their life is in jeopardy. If they cannot be useful, then they will never mate and they will die. One of the translators hopes to salvage the situation by making Qven merge with a newly discovered juvenile who grew up among humans.
Reet is adopted, just like his many siblings, but he’s always seemed odd to other people. His thoughts are filled with entrails and viscera, he desires to pull and tear to see the gorey insides of those around him. As part of some attempt at belonging, Reet ends up assigned to escort Enae around when they visit following the centuries old trail of the missing translator.
I like the three main characters, they comprise a great trio of perspectives. Even though their initial proximity is forced, I like the way Qven and Reet interact. They fit well with each other, and I hope to get more of them in future books.
While not a direct sequel, this provides a lot of information about the Presger Translators, details which explain several things from the previous books. The main storyline is entirely new, introducing and resolving the assorted troubles of the three main characters. There are various background details in this book, and the previous ones which will likely require several more stories to fully resolve, so I would be very surprised if this is intended to be the final book. Someone could quite easily start here and have a very satisfying reading experience: the kinds of things which are explained in detail are no better or worse of an entry point to the series, other than that they canonically happened after the previous four books. I can’t think of anything important that was explained enough detail to feel like a spoiler for someone who begins here and then later goes back for the other books.
Things I love, in no particular order: Qven's descriptions of growing up; the way the Presger Translators seem to have conflated being human with being Radchai – particularly the way that understanding shapes which humans ceremonies they practice.
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gore, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War
catinaflatcap's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, and Deportation
Moderate: Sexual violence and Violence
Minor: Police brutality
eleanora's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death and Police brutality
hwesta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
It was great to learn about the Presger Translators. I didn't feel the ending held up to how cool the rest of the book was.
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Death, Police brutality, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War
Lots of thoughts of dismemberment or mentions of it happening to human-like persons in the pastmsawyer77's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Child death and Sexual violence
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
liz_da_biz49's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Three different narrator's prioritizing three different things and despite being 30ish-60ish all precious babies.
Cannibalism, gender, identity, coming of age whenever the fuck you can, and violently insisting on independence from the systems and things that break us.
Moderate: Body horror, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
woweewhoa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and Police brutality
Minor: War
uranaishi's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Gore, Rape, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Minor: Child death and Sexual content
smoakwithwifi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Minor: Vomit and Classism