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Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

20 reviews

vigil's review against another edition

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

2.75

this book, was not amazing. plotwise, it was very promising and admittedly, i love an
apotheosis
story,  so on this front i was easy to please. that said i don’t think it was done  as deftly as it could’ve been, as any real moments of insight into plot and character developments where easily undercut by scene after scene of yeine’s coochie quaking because of nahadoth, a half baked and unconvincing romance that never made me quite believe that their feelings towards each other where separate from
enefa’s influence
nor that they genuinely enjoyed each other outside of inexplicable horniness. it grew more believable at the final portions, but by then it was too late. 

the romance in general is not to my taste, as i can only liken it to being nk jemisin’s take on a sarah j mass plot, with shoddy the worldbuilding and flat characters included. yeine has moments where she’s almost interesting, as does nahadoth, but then jemisin has them fall back into the role of the new adult jerkass inhuman romance plot (which i must say, an inhuman mortal immortal romance can in fact work, and my prime recommendation is the winternight trilogy, starting with the bear and the nightingale) and then their boring again. the most intriguing aspects of this book happen when they are not involved with one another (and thus the main plot as the two are inextricably tied) such as when yeine is looking into her mother’s past, or her own personal connection with her home country and family there, and when nahadoth interacts with the other gods, particularly the flashbacks. 

this book could’ve been great, and it wasn’t a terrible reading experience, but it wasn’t all it could’ve been.
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brittni_in_ink's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A fantasy novel with political intrigue, revenge plots, and captive gods, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is a fantastic read. The story follows Yeine, a young woman who is brought to the royal city of Sky after her family was disowned by her royal grandfather. She suspects that her mother's death was not natural and sets out to find out who killed her. The gods who are held hostage in the city offer to help her do more than that - but for a price. 

A slow-burn political intrigue unravels, revealing the truth of Yeine's purpose in Sky and the reason for the gods' imprisonment. The writing is incredible, Yeine's POV offers just the right balance of insight and action, and the relationships that develop leading up to the climax of the book are engaging. And like many of Jemisin's books, there's social commentary on harmful structures of power that are present in our own society.

Definitely one of my favourite reads of the year! I can't wait to continue with the series.
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corriejn's review against another edition

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4.5

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mxkatyayani's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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mossgoblins's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Although N.K. Jemison’s Broken Earth trilogy is one of my all time favorite series, I didn’t resonate strongly with this book. It is one of her first books, so perhaps it is simply that she has grown so much as an author since, but I found the characters less complex in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the plot confusing, and the setting merely satisfactory. I can’t recommend this book as more than just a mildly entertaining read, but I do highly recommend Jemison’s later works- in particular: The Fifth Season. 
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queenie_ofthe_void's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.5

NKJ is a continuous safe go-to for great stories. Of course I loved Nahadoth, but Yeine and Sieh were amazing protagonists. Even the villains were great, although I would've liked it just a touch more if Yeine had had at least one positive female relationship in the story. With that said, the men (and/or male presenting) on her side were diverse in personalities and enjoyable. Can't wait to read more!
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literelli's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced
  • 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

5.0

I really, really enjoy N.K. Jemisin’s writing. Her worlds are broken and explosive, and her characters so multifaceted. I enjoyed the Broken Earth trilogy, but I liked The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms even more.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is a book about how power corrupts, the danger of jealousy, the fallacies of gods, and the prejudice of humanity. It’s a story about vengeance on many different tiers – personal, familial, and even immortal. I was sucked in by the book, even if it was a bit of a slow read. It was worth it the patience for the depth and darkness it provided.

Jemisin has a way of creating characters that are more flaw than virtue, but you still adore. Yeine is angry, selfish, driven, strong, arrogant, reckless, and utterly interesting. Her quest for answers is the minor plot of the book – she wants to know why her mother left Sky and who killed her. Sieh and Nahadoh rank in my list of favorite characters of all time – there are so many different layers to each of them. So much pain, nostalgia, joy, charm, vulnerability, desire, hope, anger, despair… I could go on. These characters were two sides of a coin for me. Sieh’s childish hope counterbalanced Nahadoh’s desperate need perfectly. They’re also compelling, interesting characters. Too big for their bodies, in a very literal way. Loved them.

I believe the marketing of this book is a little misleading about its content since it’s far more complex than it appears. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is marketed as a YA epic fantasy. I would strongly disagree that it’s a YA book – it’s somewhere in the New Adult range more accurately. Yeine is young – nineteen, I believe – but she is older emotionally than her physical age because of her upbringing. There are definitely adult themes in this book and while I’m sure many individuals in the YA audience could handle it, I really think this is not a YA book. In terms of fantasy… well, yes, okay. It’s a fantasy world. Beyond the magic and theology, it’s a mystery story with the feel of urban fantasy. The world building is akin to epic fantasy, but that’s it. And it’s still really good – don’t let this deter you! It’s just not quite as I assumed before reading.

The mystery plot was a bit uncomplicated. There was a last minute twist at the end of the book I wasn’t expecting, but otherwise, I was so invested in the theological aspects of the story that I generally found Yeine’s insistence of digging up her mother’s past to be a distraction from more interesting things. The real story here, for me, was the tale of the three original gods and I loved it. I’m so glad this is a trilogy because I want more of this story. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms reads like a standalone book – there’s a satisfying enough end that you can stop if you want, but why on earth would you want to stop?

This is a book I am definitely going to buy in hardcopy. I could easily get lost in this dark and convoluted world. I will be reading on in the trilogy, and likely, I will reread The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms again someday in the future.

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overbooked207's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

📖 The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin Book Review 📖

8th book of January 2022 and 8th of the year:

I finally finished this big book! Once again the story, social commentary, dialogue, scheming and brutal fight scenes, and lore/magic systems were fantastic in an N.K. Jemisin novel! The characters and world were so fleshed out and complex, and I felt like I was right there in the world with them. The audiobook was beautifully done, as were The Broken Earth trilogy audiobooks, and I’m excited to continue reading and re-reading the rest of N.K. Jemisin’s books! TW for murder, death, torture, rape, slavery, explicit sexual content, violence, incest, mentioned cannibalism, body horror, death of a parent, confinement, human sacrifice, racism, war, gore, body horror, vomit, sexual violence, medical content/trauma, misogyny, abuse, alcohol/drug use, classism, colonization, torture, injury detail, infidelity, and grief📚🎧
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peachmoni's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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