Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

34 reviews

erebus53's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

This is a book I picked up because I got a recommendation of the second one and then realised I needed to read this one to catch up. Oops. 

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.

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Content Warnings

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

adventurous dark emotional slow-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

5.0

Best book I've read recently and probably my favorite of the year. Intricate worldbuilding, and the plots all weave together perfectly to create the ending. Sometimes multiple POVs can get confusing but this was well done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death and Racism

Minor: Genocide

teaand_tomes's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

3.0

Thank you @SagaPressBooks #SagaSaysCrew for the free book! 

Offers strong world-building and an engaging plot, but falls short due to underdeveloped characters and uninspiring prose. Despite these shortcomings, the book's clever use of time jumps, seamless world-building, and multi-POV storytelling add depth and complexity, making it a worthwhile read for those interested in non-European inspired fantasy. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture and Child abuse

salemander's review

5.0

this book is fucking amazing. absolute genius 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexual violence, Torture, and Physical abuse

ivereads's review

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

I am beyond words, I recently got back into reading after having over a 8-10 year slump, and I read this over the course of just 6 days. (That is insanely impressive for my slump) The storyline is phenomenal and I am absolutely in love with everything the author did. Rebecca Roanhorse did her mfing research and made the whole world building amazing. I am autistic so I have some biases for loving this stuff because it's a personal special interest. But she did a great job of bringing Indigenous history into a fantastical world full of magic and I beg that the second book is just as good and thoughtful. (Going to read that next) If you don't mind the talk of occasional violence and you love culture rich and diverse casts in a fantastical setting, i one million times over recommend this. Thanking and bowing to my friend who recommended me this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Torture, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Mental illness

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Misogyny, War, Xenophobia, Grief, and Sexual content

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The full-cast audio production of Black Sun is phenomenal and I highly recommend! Each character felt so distinct, making this large cast of characters in rotating POV easy to follow. I loved the pacing of this story, the slow-burn countdown to Convergence blended with character flashbacks. It created a unique tension and building sense of dread. The chapter starts and excerpts from fictional historical accounts were so well done and added depth to the world building. I particularly loved the dynamic between Xiala and Serapio and was so grateful I could immediately jump into book two after that ending! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Ableism, Body horror, Medical content, Murder, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Abandonment, Torture, and Grief

Moderate: War and Genocide

blakeandbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, and Body horror

Minor: Sexual content

ash_ton's review

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

jaynovara's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

bersblue's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Torture, and Violence