Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis

48 reviews

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, and Islamophobia

Minor: Alcoholism

mikkiokko's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

I think I liked most of this book more than Axiom's End. When the book was discussing the aliens and the whole world's reaction to them I was hooked and interested. I also appreciated the authors unwillingness to shy away from the fact that Cora would not be okay after everything that happened in the first book.
However, the biggest problem for me in this book was Kaveh and Cora's relationships. I had a lot of problems with it. I understand that Kaveh is a flawed character and there are certain aspects about him that I do empathize with. But, I felt like much of the time he was too emotionally immature to be in a relationship with Cora, especially while she was struggling severely from PTSD and self-harming tendencies. He often neglected her feelings and well-being completely so that he could have sex with her all while having an insane savior complex. And look, when he got died at the hands of some psycho redneck fascist I did feel bad for him, but I also wished that instead of him dying being the exit of his character it would have been something more along the lines of Cora leaving him or them both leaving each other that way his serious flaws could've been acknowledged better. Instead it felt like much of that was glossed over.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Drug abuse

emilb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping

beccaand's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, and Islamophobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, and Forced institutionalization

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

elizabethblue's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Racism and Sexism

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

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

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

elysareadsitall's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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

2.0

I read 75% of this book. I read as much of Cora's PTSD and suicide attempts and Kaveh's helplessness and feelings of guilt as I could, and then I skipped ahead to the last chapter and newspaper insert. I don't understand what happened between the first book and the second. Book one became one of my favorite books because the first contact aspect was fascinating, the pace was fast, and the question of personhood was intriguing. In book two, the aliens' personhood is the big question, but the book barely focuses on that part. The majority of the book is stuck in Cora's and (to a lesser extent) Kaveh's trauma Their inner thoughts and problematic relationship would have been fine to explore, but not this much! I think the book completely lacks focus and reads more like literary fiction that focuses on trauma than science fiction.

I was extremely disappointed in this sequel. However, because the styles are so different, I'd give a third book a chance if she writes one. I don't know if I'd be motivated to pick up anything else she writes though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Xenophobia

gyascutus's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Everyone a hot mess out here. THE AUTHOR IS RLLY NICE AND PROVIDES A CONTENT WARNING DESCRIPTION AT THE BEGINNING bc it gets real hefty in the book.
I have a lot of grievances with

relationship between cora and kaveh. And the death of kaveh. Like damn. But it ended so nicely with his article?? I wanted to cry ???

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Eating disorder, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Dysphoria

Minor: Racism and Islamophobia

libras's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Well, that was depressing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, and Car accident

Minor: Infertility and Fire/Fire injury