Reviews tagging 'Grief'

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

21 reviews

sometimes_samantha_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

This book was a beast. It took a long time to finish but it was worth it! The fight scenes were wel-written, judt a bit overdone bu tue end I think. Otherwise, this is the best sci-fi I've read in years and I'm happy to know that a second book is in the works. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Torture, War, Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence

yomireads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-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

A thrilling story that spans a universe, literal an metaphorical. In spite of a setting that's as alien as the literal aliens, the story is at once inviting in the familiarity of the characters. Encompassed in this behemoth of a read is so much, and is somehow not overcrowded for it: the delicate and yet ferocious nature of life, the complexities of finding common ground with those who hold fundamental philosophical differences from our own, and who we are in the face of tragedy and hope alike. This was a layered story on so many fronts, allowing for our protagonists growth to take center stage without sacrificing the nuances of foreshadowing and plot development. Absolutely worth every page of the read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, War, Grief, Violence, Xenophobia, Cursing, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Dysphoria, and Genocide

darkefyres's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Blood, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, War, and Sexual content

Minor: Medical content

bookishchef's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Cursing, Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Infertility

malmer's review against another edition

adventurous sad slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Grief, Medical content, War, Gore, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Confinement and Forced institutionalization

mar's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

this book was a lot of fun!!! loved how it seemed like hard sci-fi and science fantasy simultaneously. but it did Not need to be 880 pages long. anyway gregorovich my beloved <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Confinement, Medical trauma, and War

Moderate: Sexual content, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Body shaming, and Pregnancy

tiffanysmith's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Like many people, I grew up with Paolini’s debut series The Inheirtance Cycle, which I was quite fond of. As an adult, I was thrilled when I discovered he had written a space adventure novel and immediately got my hands on it. 

I can say that I enjoyed the premise and the characters up until I was about halfway through this tome…that’s when I began to despair. The story was slow. The plot and characters began to grow stale by the middle because their was a lack of forward motion to the story. I didn’t really know what the true plot was for quite a while and the character’s devoted much of their time to mundane dialogue and many scenes aboard the Wallfish that really just didn’t seem relevant. I think if the story had been condensed down by 300-400 pages, it would have been totally awesome! Instead, it grew dry and I had to slog my way to the finish line. 

I did enjoy the plot premise and the space world that Paolini built. It was brilliant. He writes beautifully, and the description drew me into each moment.  I just didn’t enjoy how it was executed in terms of pacing. From the middle until the climax at the end, I was desperately challenged to read through it, but I’m glad I finished it, so I can relish the parts I loved about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Murder, and Medical trauma

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, and Drug use

kfergey's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Spoiler

I'll start by saying I did like this book. The story (when it got going) was interesting and most of the characters were likable or interesting. The world was cool if under-explored. But, this book is TOO long, it did not need to be this long. The whole storyline of the staff of blue mcguffin was unnecessary and the dream sequences were overly long and dramatized and made the book drag. The main character was also hard to like at times as she was so introspective to the point of being a bit needy/whiny.  However, what dropped this below a 4* for me was the ending.  All of a sudden she can make all sorts of magical staffs and pills and she talks like an omniscient creature and overall I found it to be too much.  I'd only recommend this book to people who really like sci-fi and philosophy. <Spoiler>

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Violence, Death, Gore, Grief, and Xenophobia

Minor: Mental illness, Sexual content, Infertility, and Torture

categalafassi's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Torture, War, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Death, Colonisation, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Fatphobia, Pregnancy, and Body shaming

ssgcedits's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

And he did it again. Paolini never writes anything below epic.

This story is brilliantly researched, packed with action (even a bit too much for someone used to slower books) and well-rounded, diverse characters. It feels like a perfectly plausible future, but there are also nods to the Empire series that make it seem like a plausible future in that same universe.
It is definitely more adult and explicit than Empire. I am not saying that Empire isn't violent, bloody and nasty at points, because it is, but this book goes into more gore-ish detail, I think. So, be ready for that. I had to pause at various points not just because of the violence but also the sense of impending doom that builds up throughout the novel and to the very end.

Another great skill of Paolini's is in depicting relationships from the most formal to most intimate. Nothing is instantaneous or unexplained. It all makes sense to those characters in that moment and under those circumstances (almost always abnormal). Similarly, the saddest moments are often bittersweet and the happiest tend to be quite complex, which I also appreciate.

There is a lot o subtle and not-so-subtle commentary on racism and 'otherness,' on government, corporations and the exploitation of space and workers such as miners.  I always admired the way Paolini handles the interaction of different species and it is no different here. In such a dark narrative, the inclusion of comical or lighthearted characters was very welcome.

And, again, as usual, at the end of a long book, there are still many mysteries to uncover and stories to tell beyond the protagonist's. So, is that an open door for (a) sequel(s)? I hope so.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Violence, Gun violence, War, Torture, and Grief