Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis

22 reviews

wellintendedbibliophile's review

adventurous emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Diverse cast and a respectful approach to incorporating characters with disabilities, both mental and physical. This book is dark, but so well-thought out. I loved every character and appreciate how the author humanized each character.  This is still a top favorite. I need to read the sequel soon. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Colonisation, Child abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, War, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and Panic attacks/disorders

danijbalt's review

adventurous emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

The first-person narration threw me off, and the ending felt rushed in order to set up the next book, but I adored this book!! Picked it up and assumed the romance involving the First Sister would be straight, only for it to not be :') 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Xenophobia, Violence, and Sexual content

peach_pie's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, War, and Xenophobia

beesknees's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

The First Sister is an intense but extremely intriguing read. To start, there are some heavy themes and content warnings to consider, as this book takes place in the midst of a war. This story reads very straightforward but with still with feeling--the author doesn't make you guess what is going on, which is nice in a sci-fi featuring new and unusual architecture, fashion, religion, and technology. Multiple perspectives is handled extremely well; there are 3 perspectives to consider, one of which is a series of audio logs you are reading from start to finish which provides a nice break from simply switching from one series of intense happenings to another. Each perspective intertwines nicely in time for the ending of the book to both make sense and leave the reader shocked. Finally, the solid character development left me excited to see how our characters pave their way in the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Genocide

foreverinastory's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

 Still love this book with all my heart. Cannot wait to pick up The Second Rebel!

Rep: Bisexual mute female MC (unknown ethnicity), Japanese achillean nonbinary MC, Spanish-Italian demisexual male MC, sapphic mute female side character, Asian female side character with chronic pain, arm prosthetic and leg prosthetic, queer-normative world.

CWs: Blood, body horror, bullying, death, gun violence, injury/injury detail, medical content, medical trauma/nonconsensual experimentation, murder, violence, war. Moderate: abandonment, past mentions of child abuse, colonisation, deadnaming/misgendering, religious bigotry, sexual content, slavery/forced sex work, vomit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Colonisation, Deadnaming, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Slavery, and Vomit

forthesanityof1's review

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Oh god did I love this book. The premise really caught me in the beginning and I love the way the author engaged with the world-building over the course of the book to build into the plot issues as well. The way the language with the names of the different races was created particularly stood out to me. The plot was super intriguing in a nice mix of political intrigue, war, and personal stakes that made it a page-turner. I loved the writing style along with the three perspectives utilized by the author. First Sister's POV was my favorite but Lito and Hiro's were also really well done. I also appreciated the overall queer-ness of the book and world. I like that the ending especially had a lot of impact with reveals about a certain character and what actually happened. If I wasn't exhausted, I could draw a lot of parallels to issues we see in our world with queer, women, and more specifically trans issues as well. I'm dying to get my hands on the second one once it's out in paperback. If there was one thing for me to criticize, it was that the pacing sometimes reflected the author's intention to set up for the rest of the trilogy in a way that was a touch obvious, but that's being super nit-picky. Also hoping for a poly relationship in the end, so fingers crossed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Torture, Transphobia, and Violence

Mental illness specifically refers to the revelation that

the First Sister has DID or dissociative identity disorder due to her experiences and Lito deals with PTSD/flashbacks/panic attacks/reliving physical sensations

. I included tags about rape and sexual assault due to the

nature of the Sisterhood and the tasks they are expected to perform for those that want it regardless of the Sister's consent.

thegr8estangell's review

dark emotional 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? No

5.0

It's queer. It's in space. It has politics, religion, war crimes. What's not to like? I absolutely loved this book. I ordered the second book before I was even halfway done. I love this author. She will be an insta-buy for me going forward. I thought this book was so well done. The world well thought out and well fleshed out. I loved the way she included her partner in there (He was the first president of Venus). I thought her portrayal of a non-binary character was awesome! This has become one of my new favourite space operas. The plot twists, the betrayal were all so finely done. Most authors struggle to have two separate POVs in 1st person. A lot of the time, it sounds like the same person twice. Hers did not do that. That is a feat in and of itself. I love it when two characters start off on opposite sides of the plot, completely unaware of the other, and their actions affect the other in someway where they end up coming together at the end. That is my absolute favourite plot device and she just crushed it. Bravo. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Sexism, War, Xenophobia, Transphobia, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual harassment

solenodon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful 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

Handmaids tale meets the expanse meets pacific rim 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Gun violence, Blood, Slavery, and Gore

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, and Rape

Minor: Domestic abuse

syfylauren's review

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring 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

Such a fun read that took many twists and turns I was not expecting! We have two out of three main characters belonging to the alphabet mafia (LGBTQ+) and their explorations of love in its different forms felt fresh, comforting, and happily not trite. it was nice to see how the internal battle between love and duty worked to  help push the main characters outside of their comfort zones. And all while in space. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Trafficking, Torture, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

kimdalia's review

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Mental illness