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bulwark's review
- 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
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Racism
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- 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
I continue to be impressed with the worldbuilding in this series. This explains thing things about the Presger Translators which are completely consistent with events in previous books, making it clear that much of the underlying situation had been thought out well in advance. I love it when an author clearly has already figured out their world at a level of detail that I usually don’t have to worry about as a reader. The internal consistency is so nice.
Enae was eir grandmaman's caretaker, but grandmaman is dead, and Enae is sent to find a Presger Translator who has been missing for 200 years. No one expects e to find them, but e wants to do a good job anyway.
Qven is meant to mate and become a Preger Translator; all of their development has been aimed at this goal. An incident leaves them altered in a way that the adults do not find acceptable, and their life is in jeopardy. If they cannot be useful, then they will never mate and they will die. One of the translators hopes to salvage the situation by making Qven merge with a newly discovered juvenile who grew up among humans.
Reet is adopted, just like his many siblings, but he’s always seemed odd to other people. His thoughts are filled with entrails and viscera, he desires to pull and tear to see the gorey insides of those around him. As part of some attempt at belonging, Reet ends up assigned to escort Enae around when they visit following the centuries old trail of the missing translator.
I like the three main characters, they comprise a great trio of perspectives. Even though their initial proximity is forced, I like the way Qven and Reet interact. They fit well with each other, and I hope to get more of them in future books.
While not a direct sequel, this provides a lot of information about the Presger Translators, details which explain several things from the previous books. The main storyline is entirely new, introducing and resolving the assorted troubles of the three main characters. There are various background details in this book, and the previous ones which will likely require several more stories to fully resolve, so I would be very surprised if this is intended to be the final book. Someone could quite easily start here and have a very satisfying reading experience: the kinds of things which are explained in detail are no better or worse of an entry point to the series, other than that they canonically happened after the previous four books. I can’t think of anything important that was explained enough detail to feel like a spoiler for someone who begins here and then later goes back for the other books.
Things I love, in no particular order: Qven's descriptions of growing up; the way the Presger Translators seem to have conflated being human with being Radchai – particularly the way that understanding shapes which humans ceremonies they practice.
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Racism, Grief, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Gore, and Torture
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, War, Sexual assault, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
eidiya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror and Cannibalism
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Confinement, Death, Racism, and Sexual assault
skrulls's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Rape
liz_da_biz49's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Three different narrator's prioritizing three different things and despite being 30ish-60ish all precious babies.
Cannibalism, gender, identity, coming of age whenever the fuck you can, and violently insisting on independence from the systems and things that break us.
Moderate: Police brutality, Racism, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Colonisation, Blood, Body horror, and Panic attacks/disorders
woweewhoa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Torture, Police brutality, Confinement, Racism, Violence, Genocide, Death, and Sexual assault
Minor: War
anna_hepworth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
There are some convoluted viewpoint shifts, although they were interwoven skillfully, and the early stages were sufficiently discrete that by the time the plot got twisty, I had each of the viewpoint characters as separate in my head. Some of the worst of the twisty plot was dealt with by sections happening off page, and that was good for keeping the plot moving without unnecessarily complicated scenes. In particular, the multiple viewpoint characters was important for this.
All of Leckie's books that I've read do amazing things with world-building, while also presenting a range of complex and nuanced characters, with plots that build in a satisfying manner. And all of this done with beautiful prose.
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, and Gore
uranaishi's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Blood, Bullying, and Rape
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Death, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Xenophobia, Cursing, Body horror, Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Sexual content and Child death
athryn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexual violence
Moderate: Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Violence, and Body horror
Minor: Transphobia
Minor misgendering