Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

13 reviews

saobuddette's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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trizk's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? No

3.5

It is important to appreciate beauty, even when it is evil.

I'm unsure if I'll keep my rating the same, but I just want to say that the summary for the book doesn't really match the reading experience.
The "power struggle" with her cousins is not a huge part of this book imo. Especially if you thought the political machinations were going to be similar to other political fantasy novels.
The romantic relationship that forms between the MC and her love interest isn't believable to me. Because of circumstances, you have to sift through so many layers of the LI that by the time you figure out his true nature/personality, it feels like the book is damn near over.

Now onto the things I enjoyed. I liked seeing how even early on, Jemisin played around with POV. I liked how it felt like I needed to get to the very end of the book to fully understand where things were going. The writing kept me engaged from the first page, especially by 30% when things felt like they sped up a bit more. The setting of Sky itself was incredibly interesting with its presentation as a pristine building that contradicts the happenings going on within it. I also really adored Sieh and Yeine, both as characters, and their relationship with one another which was incredibly sweet. 

I liked that the novel touched on colonialism, however things felt a little too on the nose for me. I probably would've thought the book was better if I hadn't read a bit of Fifth Season way before. I'd recommend people to start there first because the author has truly improved since this debut! 

P.S. For any of my fellow sexual trauma survivors, there is a scene where
the characters very casually discuss the rape of the mc that triggered me, so if you might be sensitive to this, I'd recommend skipping this one or just being cautious.
 
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chrisljm's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-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

4.0

I’ve become disillusioned to fantasy recently but I found myself really enjoying The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and N.K. Jemisin’s writing. 

The mythology she created and the way it tied to their current world system was fascinating. So beautiful and tragic. I also really liked the narration, how fragmented and nonlinear it was, and the way it gave the prose a cosmic dreaminess. 

Of course the story itself wasn’t perfect and I found it a bit lacking, particularly the competition to be heir. With so much riding on the ceremony, as well as Yeine’s pride to win the competition, Yeine didn’t put in much effort. I also found the resolution/the most pivotal moments of the climax to lack a real sense of tension. 

I will be tuning into the sequel based solely on how intriguing the god and godling lore was.
I truly loved the idea of the Three and how they must exist together, and I hope to see if they eventually work their way back to this throughout the series.
 
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glorifiedloveletters's review against another edition

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

3.5

I don't know that this was wholly for me, but NK Jemisin is a great enough writer (and I've enjoyed many of her other books) that I may still read the next book in the series at some point.
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cleot's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Jemisin's worldbuilding is flawless as always but this series isn't my favorite of hers. 
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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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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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carolined314's review against another edition

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

4.5

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misszoe's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.5

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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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