Scan barcode
A review by whatellisreadnext
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮?
𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘧, 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.
Gatherers keep the peace in Gujaareh, harvesting the magic of dreams, helping to heal and to soothe. Ehiru, a gatherer, stumbles upon a wrongness bleeding into the city. Someone, or something, is murdering innocent dreamers.
This duology was released 3 years before The Broken Earth Trilogy (my favourite trilogy of all time), and I can't help but feel like Jemisin hadn't quite found her voice yet as an author. Feeling like only a shadow of her incredible writing in The Fifth Season.
One of the things I loved about Broken Earth, was how attached I was to the characters, that even in their dullest moments, I was happy just to be with them. Whereas, in The Killing Moon, I felt detached, I struggled remembering the names of certain characters, I mixed up Nijiri and Ehiru so many times. It just felt as if I was watching the story unfold, but I was never really a part of it.
Something I did love in The Killing moon, was the magic system. Gatherers harvest dreams, they ease people into pain-free death, they feast on these dreams and become soley dependent on them. This was fascinating to me and is probably the main reason I will be picking up the next installment.
I think if I had gone into this book, not knowing who N.K. Jemisin was, I probably would have enjoyed it so much more. Don't let my review put you off, but if you haven't experienced her writing yet, definitely start with The Fifth Season 😁
𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘧, 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.
Gatherers keep the peace in Gujaareh, harvesting the magic of dreams, helping to heal and to soothe. Ehiru, a gatherer, stumbles upon a wrongness bleeding into the city. Someone, or something, is murdering innocent dreamers.
This duology was released 3 years before The Broken Earth Trilogy (my favourite trilogy of all time), and I can't help but feel like Jemisin hadn't quite found her voice yet as an author. Feeling like only a shadow of her incredible writing in The Fifth Season.
One of the things I loved about Broken Earth, was how attached I was to the characters, that even in their dullest moments, I was happy just to be with them. Whereas, in The Killing Moon, I felt detached, I struggled remembering the names of certain characters, I mixed up Nijiri and Ehiru so many times. It just felt as if I was watching the story unfold, but I was never really a part of it.
Something I did love in The Killing moon, was the magic system. Gatherers harvest dreams, they ease people into pain-free death, they feast on these dreams and become soley dependent on them. This was fascinating to me and is probably the main reason I will be picking up the next installment.
I think if I had gone into this book, not knowing who N.K. Jemisin was, I probably would have enjoyed it so much more. Don't let my review put you off, but if you haven't experienced her writing yet, definitely start with The Fifth Season 😁
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, and Grief