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kbbru's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Body horror and Torture
y_rui's review
1.25
A decent story mired in poor worldbuilding, poor writing, lots of telling-not-showing, poor pacing, capricious characters, ham-fisted plot contrivances, etc. It took me two weeks to read the first 40% of the book and one day to read the rest. The blurb is misleading, it certainly did not make me question my humanity. (Maybe how stupid humanity is because
Sometimes I wonder if I read the same book as everyone else.
Look, I won't get into the thick of things and nitpick everything but the worldbuilding is not there. The aliens have similar technologies, and sure, if it was stated that 'oh this is just the word that can be best used to describe this thing that serves the same purpose but is not completely the same', I can 100% give that a pass. But Rakhat is just Earth but with giant cat people and pseudo-cat people and other funny animals.
Somewhere in the author's notes she writes (in not so many words) that she consulted a man of the Church and any inaccuracies regarding Christianity are not his fault, but due to her own arrogance. That's what this book is: an author, full of themselves, telling you these Big Important Lessons and throwing in all these things that she found funny or clever or entertaining but failing to account for reality and humanity and the craft of storytelling along the way.
Graphic: Body horror, Rape, and Colonisation
samstg'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
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Excrement, and Vomit
redporchinverter's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Rape, and Sexual violence
vespasiana's review
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Cannibalism
Minor: Child death and Trafficking
While all the above things do happen in the book, both on and off screen, the bulk of the plot is about the “before” and “after”. Very little of the extreme or moderate stuff is shown for long, but is referenced very frequently in the “after” sections as something the main character is dealing from the fallout of.bobin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror and Suicidal thoughts
blnktdnstrs'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
Graphic: Genocide, Sexual assault, and Slavery
Moderate: Body horror
ashbcgc'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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, and Colonisation
Minor: Cannibalism
smallredboy'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? No
5.0
Edit a few days after this fact: This is a complex book. It's very much Jewish, even when it deals largely with Jesuits, as it gives you a thousand questions about God (including the good ol' "if God exists, why do horrible things happen?" question) but provides exactly zero answers (maybe half an answer), which is very much a Jewish thing to do. The characters are alive, almost too alive, enough for the foregone conclusion to hurt even before it happens. The way it deals with trauma (mental, physical and sexual) is realistic and cathartic, believable; I feel for Emilio deeply. While I don't know much about science, most of it felt pretty realistic, and I absolutely adored the focus on anthropology and linguistics, as that I understand some more of. The non-linear narrative makes it better, in my opinion; the sinking dread having an understanding of what's going to happen while hope is still high in the air is incredible.
It's a very heavy book, with a thousand trigger warnings to be given. But if you can read it, I really do recommend it.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
Minor: War
evilscientist's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
-liked the characters and different POVs
-and the worldbuilding of the aliens was really interesting
-and the switching between present and flashbacks created tension as we wait to find out how the tragedy happens
-made me think a lot about religion, language, and grief. still not sure how i feel about it
-it was slow to get through the first few chapters but once i connected with the characters i couldn’t wait to finish it
-also had some really funny bits
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Sexual content, and Grief