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careinthelibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This will probably be a 5 star when I reread it one day. Wow. It's a complex story, feels epic in scale, but also has relatable and realistic characters. My new favourite Nnedi Okorafor book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Rape, Hate crime, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Racism, Death, and Sexism
Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcohol, Slavery, Blood, Infidelity, Death of parent, Body shaming, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Bullying, War, and Fire/Fire injury
Female genital mutilationkharlan3's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual assault, Rape, and War
Moderate: Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Grief, and Gore
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Animal death, and Body horror
tigger89's review
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I don't want to say that I enjoyed this book, because I didn't. The content warnings aren't a joke, and I encourage you to check the list. But I am glad I read the book, especially after also reading the afterword which pointed me to the real-world atrocity that inspired the Ewu(the mixed-race group the main character belongs to). If it had come entirely from the author's mind it would have been too much, but of course it was based in reality, because humans never stop finding new ways to be monstrously cruel to each other.
The thing I liked the most about it was diving into the magic systems(yes, plural - there's the more commonplace juju, and also the sorcery that the main character learns to wield), particularly that they were explained enough to give me the flavor without being explained to death. I also loved the almost-meta themes surrounding destiny and agency, and the ending of the book was perfect(fight me). Something else I appreciated was that the characters were allowed to be human, with all the flaws, tempers and mistakes that come along with that.
The main thing I didn't like was how much sex and relationship drama was in the story. Once they were adults, it seemed like every chapter someone was having intercourse with someone else and a third person was being salty about it. Realistic? Yes, but not my cup of tea. Also, the way the novel revolved around pregnancy was a bit squick for me, though I'm aware this one is a me problem. Nothing in this point seemed out of character, it just very much wasn't for me. The other criticism I have is that the book was extremely gender binary, which isn't too surprising for a book published in 2010.
The thing I liked the most about it was diving into the magic systems(yes, plural - there's the more commonplace juju, and also the sorcery that the main character learns to wield), particularly that they were explained enough to give me the flavor without being explained to death. I also loved the almost-meta themes surrounding destiny and agency, and the ending of the book was perfect(fight me). Something else I appreciated was that the characters were allowed to be human, with all the flaws, tempers and mistakes that come along with that.
The main thing I didn't like was how much sex and relationship drama was in the story. Once they were adults, it seemed like every chapter someone was having intercourse with someone else and a third person was being salty about it. Realistic? Yes, but not my cup of tea. Also, the way the novel revolved around pregnancy was a bit squick for me, though I'm aware this one is a me problem. Nothing in this point seemed out of character, it just very much wasn't for me. The other criticism I have is that the book was extremely gender binary, which isn't too surprising for a book published in 2010.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Slavery, Death, Death of parent, Racism, Sexism, Genocide, Pregnancy, and Rape
Moderate: Incest, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and War
The main character undergoes(and spends a lot of time thinking about) female genital mutilation.
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