Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis

15 reviews

kanonkita's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.75

Very well written. I had some issues with the slow pacing of the first book in this series that I felt this one largely managed to avoid. Some aspects of the main character were a bit grating at times, but in one sense that was the point. She was struggling with trauma and mental health issues related to that, and I think Ellis did a good job portraying how these things can make someone difficult to deal with or be around. 

That being said, maybe avoid the audiobook unless you really enjoy listening to tremulous female voices shouting "No no no" over and over again ever few minutes. The computerized sound effect that was put over the Amygdalans' voices in the audiobook could also be grating at times and made it difficult to hear them if there was any background noise while I was listening.

Overall, I would recommend it, but do pay attention to the content warning Ellis provides at the beginning of the novel. 

Also, a note that I have not seen this book listed as LGBTQ+ in many places, which I can only chalk up to bi erasure. Cora is bisexual, and it seems unfair that this gets overlooked just because she has a heterosexual romance, especially given that it occurs alongside her very queer relationship with an alien who only uses he/him pronouns out of convenience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Body horror, Antisemitism, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gun violence, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Gore, Suicide attempt, Islamophobia, Addiction, Death, Blood, Xenophobia, Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

seullywillikers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was much darker than "Axiom's End," and as such, a bit harder to read. I love the premise of Extraterrestrial personhood being debated on the American political, and world stage. The new characters were interesting and I really got invested in them. Towards the end, I was feeling like "okay geez, how much more is there actually" but I'm pleased with where the ending takes us. I'm hoping there's another installation in this series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Gore, Islamophobia, Confinement, Deportation, Racism, and Addiction

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Police brutality, Infertility, and Eating disorder

tomas_lw's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A great sequel to Axiom's End. But be aware that this book is a lot darker and more depressing that the first book. The first book was emotional, for sure, but this one is absolutely soul crushingly sad at times. This isn't a critisism, but it's something that it's good to be aware of before starting the book.

That being said, this book is a great depiction of grief and loss, and it has some very well constructed parables about society and current events. It's a very cleverly constructed book and Ellis feels even more confident as a writer in this than the first one that was already a very strong debut.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Xenophobia, Self harm, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Racism, Violence, Gun violence, Suicide, and Islamophobia

Minor: Body horror, Addiction, Abandonment, and Alcohol

trinidad_gondi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Vomit

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Addiction and Suicide

nicnels's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Islamophobia, and Gun violence

pizzasprite's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I have strongly conflicting feelings about this book.

It a took a while for me to get around to reading this one, since the plot of Axiom's End was so heavily based in American politics, which I am completely uninterested in as a non-American. However, Truth of the Divine does a better job exploring the international implications of first contact than Axiom's End did. The first half of this book was, well, divine - I was extremely interested in the relationship between Cora and Ampersand, and the urgency of resolving the main political conflicts continued on from the first book. I thought Kaveh was a much-needed different perspective to contrast Cora's limited viewpoints. I think that telling the story of first contact from a journalist's POV much more interesting than from a "militarist" perspective. I also loved Nikolas! The alien culture that Ellis has fabricated is truly fascinating, I almost wish this series was all about aliens with no human characters. The way Cora's PTSD and panic attacks were depicted were equally heartbreaking and sympathetic. This book depicts mental illness more earnestly than anything I have read recently. 

The second half of the book is much weaker. The tension between Cora and Ampersand dissolved completely, since Ampersand is largely absent beyond Act 2. The sexual relationship between Cora and Kaveh made me so, so, so uncomfortable. It felt very gratuitous and came out of nowhere, almost like an editor insisted on their romance. In the author's notes, Ellis mentions that Kaveh used to be two characters, and you can definitely see that in the writing. There were many instances in which I felt like I could not continue reading, because their age difference and unbalanced power dynamic made me feel that uncomfortable. Early on, it's established that Cora feels very lonely, and needs another human to talk to: if Kaveh had remained her friend/mentor, this dynamic would have been perfect. However, the fact that they begin sleeping together makes their bond feel extremely creepy and toxic. This makes it difficult to "root" for Kaveh as a protagonist.  I wish the book focused on the relationship between Ampersand and Cora, especially since their romance is alluded to early in the book. I suspect/hope this will be explored more in the next book. 

I will probably read the next book in the series, to ultimately see what happens to Ampersand. But this one definitely left a foul taste in my mouth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Murder, Gun violence, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Ableism, Eating disorder, Islamophobia, Sexual content, and Addiction

Minor: Misogyny

hannanni41's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Abandonment and Addiction

gwendolynaudrey_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Much darker but also more compelling and interesting than the first, this book takes a big departure in tone from the first. It is extremely page turning, once again never allowing the reader to really breath. You learn much more about the main character's trauma and struggles in agonizing detail. Toxic relationship dynamics take front and center stage in this one, and dark themes of self harm, suicidal ideation, and human nature are put under a microscope. We learn much more about the aliens introduced and mentioned in the first, but the more we learn, the more questions the reader has. Very imaginative and entertaining, I could not put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Islamophobia

jjreads331's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

Of all the places I thought this series would go, this was not it, if I'm being honest. And I am so happy to have been surprised. I'm excited to see what comes next, even if I'm still reeling a bit from this entry into the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Body horror, Gore, Medical content, Violence, Suicide attempt, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Self harm

Moderate: Antisemitism, Colonisation, Hate crime, Medical content, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Eating disorder, Confinement, and Gun violence

malmer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Classism, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Medical trauma