Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

57 reviews

filipacmiranda's review

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3.75

This book was a recommendation and the first book by N.K. Jemisin that I read. The way the book is narrated captivated me from the beginning, and I enjoyed following the unfolding events from Yeine's point of view. Although I can't quite pinpoint what made the reading process so intriguing, acquiring knowledge about the city of Sky and its functioning as Yeine adapted to new customs and the city's demands made for a great form of world-building. 

Even though I thought Yeine was an interesting character, it was difficult for me to care about the story and most other characters in the book. Although I'm not sure why, it was only in the last third that the reading process became much easier, and I truly started to care what happened to the gods. 

The final chapters were undoubtedly my favourite part, as they surprised me repeatedly - especially regarding the fate of some characters. I believe that the following volumes of the trilogy have the potential to surpass the first one! 
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rlevy_95's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was amazing. 
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shermansays's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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kemrick19's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced
  • 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? It's complicated

4.0

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squids_can_read's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

This book was horrible. I thought this was going to be about a young woman who is thrust into politics and is fighting for the throne. Instead, I got a weird amalgamation of half-baked science fiction and incestual gods. The main character is about as interesting as watching paint dry. The world-building is nonexistent. The rest of the characters are no better. This could have been a brilliant book about how love makes us complete but no it's just about sex. Honestly, why push the point that the gods are siblings if you are going to make their whole relationship just about sex? It's gross. Do you know what else is gross, pushing that this god character is fundamentally a child and then referencing people having sex with said child? Honestly, I don't know how I pushed my way through this. It was terrible. Maybe some people will like it but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I will probably not be reading anything else by this author. 
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daniella_lo's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

Beautiful, challenges ideas of what makes a god and a mortal, what makes us human
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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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nixieba25f's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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ecmbeanie's review against another edition

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

4.75

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sreddous's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This is a highly-detailed, well-built world with a mature and dark tone. 

This book really shines when we get into the parts where it feels like we're reading mythology. All of the past stories with the gods are SO interesting and feel like dreamy fairy tales. All the scenes where Nahadoth acts like an abstract kind of god form are really beautiful even as they're (in a good way!!) confusing and overwhelming. 

I think some of the dialogue is a bit stilted (me personally, I feel like gods calling themselves by their nicknames, Nahadoth=Naha and Itempas=Tempas, somehow didn't make things more intimate and realistic) but that's a pretty nitpicky thing. I think what makes this more four stars for me than five is that while the mythological stuff is super cool, the political stuff was sometimes hard to follow IMO. I think the plot could be a little more organized to make the stakes a little clearer earlier into the book, it feels like the second act of the book is super long and then the third is super short, which wouldn't be too big a deal if the second act was a little clearer on what we were building towards. 

N.K. Jemisin has a gorgeous writing style and I'm definitely eager to keep reading her stuff!!
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