Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix

7 reviews

fallen_angel1002's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

What happens when the life you want to lead and the life you have to lead are two different paths?

Mix has created an epic tale of love, loss and trust that follows as a young witch has to fight against her destiny whilst also fighting against a rebellion and a mutated virus. Throughout the story, protagonist Ranka has to make a lot of hard choices as the ones she loves and trusts betray her, finding a new path to follow as her magic and her heart begin to change. The tale of the Bloodwin witch is amazingly written. There are so many twists and surprises in this book that it keeps you hooked till the very end, and the characters are completely gripping as you want to see how their stories end. I had to give this the highest rating I could. Definitely worth the read, I cannot recommend this enough for people who love YA fantasy; it is one of the best books of our age. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, and Classism

ethana's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Vomit, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

arsenelouppain's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had action, an intricate political plot, great world-building, and loveable characters. I wish more moments between

Ranka and Aramis had been shown, because their relationship felt somewhat abrupt.

I also think some of its themes were a bit heavy-handed. But, all in all, I really liked this book.

So I was shocked to see that it had been accused of perpetuating racism. I am Black, and--while I know Blackness is not a monolith--I did not pick up on any bigoted undertones.

TL;DR: I'm Black and didn't think it was racist, but I'm just one person. Read it and draw your own conclusions.

Putting aside the fact that all of the negative press I personally saw about the book was from people that hadn't read it, and had only heard about it secondhand:

The main issue people cited was that the royal twins, Aramis and Galen, were mixed, and Ranka was white. Somehow, the conclusion had been drawn that the twins were oppressing white witches, like Ranka. But this is not the case. 

It is pointed out multiple times that the witches are a diverse group comprised of various races. It is also mentioned that witches have committed wrongs against humans, and neither of the two groups was fully in control of the situation.

As an aside,

these claims are especially ironic considering that the twins weren't even ruling, so they had no hand in what was happening to the witches. And made even more ironic by the fact that their father, the former king, was white and abusing his power to oppress witches and humans alike.

While it is at first presented to Ranka that Galen is hell-bent on killing all witches, this turns out to be a lie told by Ranka's mentor. After meeting Galen, Ranka discovers the truth: Galen is a kind, gentle boy that has been made into a figurehead, much like herself.

If anything, this is less like reverse-racism and more like a white person who was raised in a racist environment meeting a Black person for the first time and realizing everything they'd been taught was a lie. Which is still an issue, but a separate one.

I feel like Mix's intentions were to create diverse characters in a fantasy story where the color of your skin has no impact on your societal standing. Personally, I like to enjoy stories like this on occasion; there's enough racism in the real world, and it's nice to get a break.

As a queer Black woman, I was also estatic to see someone like me reflected in the story. I know this is not a universal experience, but I would rather see imperfect representation than none at all because white people are too afraid of backlash to even include people like me as a one-off side character.

But this is just my opinion. And my thoughts do not invalidate the opinions of other Black people who actually read this book and have legitimate criticisms.
 
I urge anyone who is on the fence about reading The Ones We Burn because of any controversey to just give it a chance, and pass your own judgement.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kiaras's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• 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

A truly excellent cabbage cart reference/joke. Tonally out of place? Yes. Enjoyed it anyway? ALSO YES. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Death of parent

kirstenf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Moderate: Genocide, Terminal illness, Torture, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Medical content and Kidnapping

kassidyreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Physical abuse

linnea1801's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

This book is sooo good!!!! It’s a story about overcoming abuse and trauma, it’s beautifully written and it’s gay so it’s a ten out of ten in my books. Also I just want to give Ranka a hug, she deserves it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic