Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

49 reviews

jo_lzr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I liked reading this book and I'd definitely like to read the second one, especially for Naranpa's story as she is my favorite. Iran and Xiala are also characters I care about. I like Serapio and I hope that he can find a way to escape his destiny, but I don't like The Crow God,

though I am grateful that he killed Abah and Eche!

The worldbuilding and the magic system are very intriguing and well built, even though there is more to the magic system that we haven't seen yet and I'd definitely like to see more.

I want to see Iktan's perspective about what happened after xe realized that Naranpa was kidnapped. I like xir as a character, especially after seeing that xe wasn't like the rest of the traitors. 
I also thought it very ingenious how the traitors ended up unknowingly saving Naranpa's life by scheming against her. 
Furthermore, I loved the scene when the Crow God realized that Eche didn't have the sun's essence and that the real Sun Priest was somewhere else. I would love to see Naranpa discovering her potential, though I'm guessing that she might have to share the same fate as Serapio.

 
TW: If you're sensitive to images of body horror, please read with caution as they are graphically described.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

helixlhart's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

Fascinating world building and compelling characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Xenophobia, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty, Drug use, and Sexual content

casdelvo's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Xenophobia and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide attempt, and War

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Genocide, and War

Minor: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Death of parent

lavenderhimbo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

This book is incredible. I only have a few critiques and they're not a big deal. The characters are consistent and unique, and they are clearly being set up for interesting arcs and growth. The worldbuilding is awesome so far and I can't wait to see where the plot goes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Self harm, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Homophobia, Sexism, and Sexual content

salemander's review against another edition

5.0

this book is fucking amazing. absolute genius 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

camrich's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.25

I’m usually not much of a high fantasy reader, but I had heard so many great things about this book that I had to give it a shot. Overall I thought it was great! It took me a little bit to get into all of the world building, but the characters (especially Serapio and XIALA!!) had me hooked from the start. I actually grew to love learning about all of the cultures and the tensions between them as the book progressed, especially the political state of Tova and tensions between the clans/the clans and the priesthood/within the priesthood. Another thing I loved was all of the representation, especially regarding trans & non-binary identities and visual disability.
Now for a bit of the negative points of this book for me. The main one was that the book spent all its time building up to this major event only for it to actually happen across 2, maybe 3 pages; I was obviously disappointed. That being said, I did think that it was cool to read about the effects of this event from the different character perspectives which softened the blow a bit. Another was how underdeveloped one of the main character’s story was, especially in comparison to another character who got lots of page time but had very little development (

*cough* Narampa *cough*

) I was actually really interested in expanding on Okoa and

the mystery behind his mother’s death/murder

but unfortunately it seemed like that plot point was abandoned (hoping the author further develops that in the second book!).
Overall a solid start to the trilogy, will definitely be picking up Fevered Star and Mirrored Heavens to see how everything plays out!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Genocide, Sexual content, and Alcohol

effingunicorns's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

I came into this tentative but committed, wanting to catch up on yet another trilogy concluding in the first half of the year because I thought the final book sounded awesome but immediately running up against a story that, clear cultural differences aside, does read like a pretty normal high fantasy. I don't inherently object to the sub-genre, but it's not one I'm used to these days, so I had to adjust. On top of that, one of the protagonists soon proves to be in a real tooth-gnasher of a situation, making decisions time and again that left me begging for just a glimmer of situational awareness, for just one moment of "no, sorry, I don't fucking trust you".

Fortunately, I persevered. Partially, of course, this was because I was still so hopeful about that third book. Partially, though, the more I read, the more it felt like the storyline I was struggling with was one that had to unfold somehow, and the more obvious it became just how limited those somehows were. And then things finally came to a head, that third storyline dripping with irony, and now I'm ready to start the second book this weekend in full sickos.jpg mode.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content

ivereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

I am beyond words, I recently got back into reading after having over a 8-10 year slump, and I read this over the course of just 6 days. (That is insanely impressive for my slump) The storyline is phenomenal and I am absolutely in love with everything the author did. Rebecca Roanhorse did her mfing research and made the whole world building amazing. I am autistic so I have some biases for loving this stuff because it's a personal special interest. But she did a great job of bringing Indigenous history into a fantastical world full of magic and I beg that the second book is just as good and thoughtful. (Going to read that next) If you don't mind the talk of occasional violence and you love culture rich and diverse casts in a fantastical setting, i one million times over recommend this. Thanking and bowing to my friend who recommended me this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Grief, and War

itsbrianascall's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder