A review by anam_ali
The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
3.0
I am slightly disappointed in myself that I'm giving just 3 stars to a book with an awesome WoC protagonist with a disability that did not hinder her a bit and was actually well-written in the narrative, a protagonist I grew to love over the course of the book, she was a badass. And yet here we are. It was actually the New Lights stuff, I felt like it came out of nowhere and was just not powerful enough to be the major reveal, the major antagonist of the whole thing. It felt it was just kinda there, for no reason. It was supposed to give me pause, supposed to shock me and make me wonder what might happen next, instead I was just like 'eh, okay, whatever, please move the hell on'. It didn't matter to me, like at all. And that disappointed me so much.
And then there's the matter of intimate scenes in this book, and even the previous. I hate the fact that almost every kiss/intimate scene (well, 90% of them) begin with the guy being forceful and the girl being resistant, but the guy persists despite her reluctance or protests, usually making an angry sound or statement to counter her resistance and the girl gives in and is pliant. I HATE IT! And, you know, if it was like one scene amongst many I probably wouldn't have minded that much. But it's in! Every! Scene! What the actual hell? I get that it might be some people's cup of tea but it sure as hell isn't mine. Consent is importance to me, and it is also important to me that our ladies' love interest be actual hero material enough to bloody stop and ask once in a while, if she protests at the kissing or other stuff, ask if it's okay, if he should go on, instead of just barrelling on. That was the dynamic between Nahadoth and Yeine. And it was the same between Shiny and Oree. After all the good stuff that I'd been hearing about Jemisin (and it is there, in the books, most of it) this just threw me off so bad, I read on dreading all the intimate scenes in both books and am eyeing the third one reluctantly.
But then Sieh is there and I've missed him.
And then there's the matter of intimate scenes in this book, and even the previous. I hate the fact that almost every kiss/intimate scene (well, 90% of them) begin with the guy being forceful and the girl being resistant, but the guy persists despite her reluctance or protests, usually making an angry sound or statement to counter her resistance and the girl gives in and is pliant. I HATE IT! And, you know, if it was like one scene amongst many I probably wouldn't have minded that much. But it's in! Every! Scene! What the actual hell? I get that it might be some people's cup of tea but it sure as hell isn't mine. Consent is importance to me, and it is also important to me that our ladies' love interest be actual hero material enough to bloody stop and ask once in a while, if she protests at the kissing or other stuff, ask if it's okay, if he should go on, instead of just barrelling on. That was the dynamic between Nahadoth and Yeine. And it was the same between Shiny and Oree. After all the good stuff that I'd been hearing about Jemisin (and it is there, in the books, most of it) this just threw me off so bad, I read on dreading all the intimate scenes in both books and am eyeing the third one reluctantly.
But then Sieh is there and I've missed him.