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erebus53'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
4.25
There are three main characters. In a harsh world, a young boy is taken from his life to be turned into the vessel for a Godform. The whole story starts in abuse, physical mutilation, and sacrifice, and that's pretty harsh. Although his life is harsh it is not without love. At least the kid has his crows.
A young girl is brought up in poverty in the back streets, and through savvy and devotion she is elevated to the head of her religious sect, but her underlings aren't happy about it.
A woman of an Amazon-like minority culture, and who are said to have magical powers, is the captain of a ship that takes a strange cargo on a tight deadline, at the wrong time of year, and she has to deal with an unruly crew, and dangerous weather.
The plot is just an underpinning though. The characters are really fun, and through the narrative there are many characters of many different genders and sexualities. There are at least two obviously NB characters with xe/xer pronouns and one side character is a trans woman. It's normalised, but not all cultures have the same attitudes toward sex, gender roles, or even nudity.
Although there is some combat and training-montage type scenes I was not bored and it was not blow-by-blow or glamorizing. The pace was good, the character interplay was fun and I bought in, and I've always been a sucker for prophecy stories... This one is hopped up on monk juice, scary mermaid energy and seriously full of crows (and crows are cool). Some of these babies are riding size.
Where's MY crow mount?? ok I'm off to read the second one.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Gore, Body horror, Classism, Murder, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, and Child abuse
alyanna_dm'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death and Racism
Minor: Genocide
moonytoast's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Violence, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Alcohol, Death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Gore, Sexism, Vomit, Body horror, and Cursing
lavenderhimbo's review
- 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
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Animal death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Child abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Racism, Xenophobia, and Self harm
Minor: Sexual content, Sexism, and Homophobia
par0xys's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death and Child abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, and Confinement
saucy_bookdragon's review
- 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
4.5
Black Sun is almost a perfect epic fantasy! A world based on the Americas' pre-Columbian societies, the story had me captivated the entire time. I finished the entire book in only three days, only two of which I was actually reading it, I could not put it down any time I picked it up! Its a twisty game of gods and magic with a cast of characters that had me wishing they could live in better situations, I wanted to hold them in my hand and feed them nice treats.
Serapio is my son. Xiala is such a good execution of a character whose badass and rough who has a vulnerable soft side, I also loved the lore behind her and the Teek! Naranpa had such an intriguing plot and world building, a priestess unraveling a dangerous mystery. This plot and world mainly work because there's such an enduring cast at the reins of it, giving ample reason to care. I also adored how effortlessly queer this book is, practically every character is queer in some way and there are even two who use xe/xir pronouns!
What kept me from giving this a full five stars were mostly small things. I didn't care much for Okoa's POVs, not that I disliked him or his chapters, I just felt he came in too late for me to really connect like I did with the others. The cliffhanger ending makes the overall story feel incomplete, so my feelings won't be complete until I read the sequel or maybe even the entire series. But overall, this was an extremely promising start to the Between Earth and Sky series!
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Homophobia
salemander's review
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexual violence, Torture, and Physical abuse
ash_ton's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Torture, and Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Addiction, Biphobia, Vomit, Alcohol, and Suicide
that_boi_eliza's review
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: War, Suicide, Alcoholism, Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, and Alcohol
Moderate: Trafficking, Classism, Misogyny, Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Animal death, Cursing, Gore, Drug use, and Death
Minor: Ableism and Confinement
jaynovara'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death of parent, Self harm, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Torture
Minor: Religious bigotry, Cursing, and Sexual violence