Reviews tagging 'War'

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis

40 reviews

catsy2022's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and War

Minor: Vomit

accidentallyinspace's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Really solid speculative fiction story that really surprised me with a lot of intelligent character decisions and subverted tropes. The main twist of the story is decently easy to spot a mile off, but that doesn't matter; the rest of the world building and intrigue is more than enough to keep everything interesting. I love the idea that despite being 100 years technologically advanced and "run by scientists", the icarii faction still has serious and glaring issues. I feel like it would have been easy to throw to "scientists are automatically smart and perfect at running things" and that didn't happen here. I will be picking up the next book for sure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, and War

ericadawson's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Actual review is 3.9 stars. The day I'll be able to use any increment I want is the day I'll rejoice. 

This review contains spoilers--and my opinion is overall impacted by the fact that I wasn't able to finish this in a timely fashion.

I enjoyed The First Sister, although the triple POV felt off-balance to me as I much preferred First Sister's perspective over Lito's and Hiro's, but we inevitably got more of Lito and Hiro's development than First Sister's.

The plot is enjoyable, and there are many moving parts without those parts colliding and making the reading experience confusing or unclear. I enjoyed the worldbuilding because it didn't feel too large like in some other scifis, but it wasn't contained to just Earth and the Moon like some others. The history was rich without being overwhelming, and the author did a good job of staying focused on the parts of the lore that were actually relevant (although I did forget sometimes that this was a war over resources, first and foremost). I felt Lito's transition to treason was a bit speedy, but both Hiro's and First Sister's plot twists were excellent.

The voice was strong, the pacing good, and the internal and external conflicts felt real. A very enjoyable book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and War

Minor: Sexual content

rtaire's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, War, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Transphobia

lanid's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Xenophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Dysphoria, War, and Classism

skrulls's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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

3.0

to me the end felt a bit rushed and not really foreshadowed, so some details really came out of nowhere - it felt a bit "tell" instead of "show"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Rape, Transphobia, and Murder

kaylamoran's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

Outer space books and movies aren't usually my thing, but I really liked this!  It was super unique, and I didn't see the plot twist coming at all.  4.5 stars instead of 5 because I found Lito's perspective a little boring sometimes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and War

Minor: Racism, Transphobia, Vomit, and Murder

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Dysphoria, and War

Minor: Cursing, Racism, and Alcohol

offbrandclubsoda's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Transphobia and Alcohol

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

 - It's hard to summarize THE FIRST SISTER. It's set in a huge, complex galaxy with two factions at war with each other, and we see those two sides intersect throughout the book, through defections, strategizing, secrecy and more.
- This is one of those dual POV books where you're always eager to return to the action of whoever's storyline you're in. Both First Sister and Lito's stories were so gripping.
- There are a couple of great plot twists: even if you see them coming, this book is fantastically plotted.
- I feel like I am not doing this book justice, lol. It's great! Just hard to condense into an IG caption. If you love space opera and romance and discussing power and inequality through sci-fi, go get it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content