jht5791's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Blood, War, Animal death, Torture, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Physical abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Murder, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury
puttingwingsonwords'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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Murder, Death, Alcohol, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Confinement, War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Gore, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content, Sexism, and Religious bigotry
azrah786's review
4.5
**I was gifted a copy of the book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, blood, gore, injury, self harm, body horror, suicide, murder, death, animal death, torture, alcohol, war, physical abuse, sexual assault, grief, confinement, misogyny/sexism
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Now I know from having read Roanhorse’s Storm of Locusts that she can write a damn good sequel but this has gone and topped it for me, IT IS SO GOOD!
Fevered Star picks up immediately after the events from the end of Black Sun and again Roanhorse is masterful with pace, keeping the tensions post those events simmering and also slowly building on them as more of the story unfolds.
We have a new point of view from Balam introduced along with the original 4 to expand the story and world further and boy does it expand. One thing I personally love with sequel books of multi pov stories is when the various characters, both protagonist and supporting, start to cross paths and this book was full of a mix of satisfying, shocking and highly entertaining interactions.
Spoiler
My favourite of course being the unlikely alliance that occurred between a certain sea captain and assassin.Middle books in a trilogy a lot of the time have that feel of setting up the finale and while this one is definitely setting everything up for the final instalment the various storylines never feel like they are there to just fill up space. They each have the feel of individual pieces on a gameboard meticulously being moved around, keeping you captivated to see what alliance shift will occur next, what unanswered question from the first book will finally come to the surface.
Not only do the political machinations keep you hooked but as mentioned before each perspective brings with it a chance to discover more about the Meridian, its cultures and its history and honestly this Pre-Columbian America’s inspired world just gets more and more intriguing the more you see of it, learn of it.
The same goes for the protagonists, we get a deeper dive into their backstories and their emotions and truly the character developments across the board are just phenomenal.
I shall now impatiently wait to see what Roanhorse has planned next for these characters and the conclusion of this fantastic series.
Final Rating – 4.5/5 Stars
Graphic: Gore, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
purplepenning's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Self harm
Moderate: Sexism, Classism, Grief, Animal death, Torture, Alcohol, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship
aardwyrm's review
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Sexism, Abandonment, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Animal death, Murder, Addiction, Gore, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and War
thereadingskeleton's review
- 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
4.5
Rep: Indigenous/Native-coded cast, blind MC, bi MC, queer MC, nonbinary SC (non-POV but important character), other queer characters
When I read Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse last year, it was an instant favorite. So many great characters. So much rich, vibrant description. So many twists and turns. Not to mention queer as hell. It was simply phenomenal.
I’m happy to report that the sequel, Fevered Star, is also phenomenal! I know that many people disliked Naranpa in the first book, and although I didn’t, I understand their reasoning. That being said, this is Nara’s book. She is the star, and she absolutely shines. In this book, Nara gets the chance to grow in a way she didn’t in Black Sun. Her chapters were my favorites, and I’m extremely interested to see where she goes from here.
On the flipside, I feel like Xiala—who was my favorite character in Black Sun—really let me down in this sequel. Her growth completely stagnates, and all she does is mope about not being with Serapio. Yes, she’s dealing with grief and trauma over the ending events of Black Sun, but her behavior was so frustrating to me.
I think part of the issue with Xiala’s arc is that this is, for better or worse, a middle book, and it has the hallmarks of one. There’s a lot of setting up for the final book in the trilogy, and that occurs to the detriment of some of the characters.
Still, I thoroughly enjoyed this sequel and will be snatching up the next one as soon as it’s released. I especially recommend the audiobook (narrated by Christian Barillas, Darrell Dennis, Cara Gee, Nicole Lewis, and Shaun Taylor-Corbett)!
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, Torture, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Animal death and Sexism
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
ofbooksandechos'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
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Gore and Sexism