Book Review - The Fifth Season

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The short and to-the-point review: First half of the book is a struggle. Next quarter gets exciting. Last quarter is nothing short of amazing and brings the book together in a neat, tidy package with a gold-plated bow on top. Go read this now.

The longer review:

I struggled with the first half for numerous reasons. The first and biggest one being how the author throws you into the world with little to no introductions. Even when things are made clear, they're normally done so AFTER the event/words. For instance: Rogga is a term often used, but isn't really explained for some time. Same with 'safe'. There are still some things I'm unsure of even after finishing the book. Looking through the appendices might help, but I'm a firm believer that appendices should be optional reading and not required to understand the book.

The other reason was because it had a prologue. I hate prologues. This didn't disappoint my hatred. It was confusing and I didn't see a point to it. Even now, after finishing, I don't see a NEED to have read it. It provides some nice context later on, but in my opinion not enough to trudge through it.

Last reason: 2nd person POV. A SPECIFIC 2nd person POV. 'You' have a life, a history, and a distinct personality. Jarring, to say the least.

I'm not going to pull punches - it was so freaking hard to get through that first half. Many times I had to force myself to keep reading and to pick it up again. However, once I started getting the hang of the world things became much, much smoother. Enjoyable, even. And while I quite frankly never ENJOYED the 2nd POV, I loved the events as they unfolded through it.

I understand why the author just throws you into the world, however. There is so much to N.K. Jemisin's world that it would be next to impossible to ease the reader into it. So throwing them in makes logical sense. Unfortunately it does make for a sink or swim type of situation. Either you'll struggle through the book, or you'll give up. But keep going.

After chapter 12 was when things picked up for me. I enjoyed the events - probably because I was getting used to the world - and found myself eager to know what happened next. The prose is beautiful both in its almost lyrical qualities and how it doesn't pull any punches. This is a brutal world - but it's not brutal to BE brutal. There are reasons, and it's not a story to see just how much bad can happen to a character. I loved the way homosexuality and trans-sexuality was treated as normal. For the most part the characters didn't have a strong opinion about it one way or the other, except in a few instances to bring up points about arranged marriages and procreation.

There is a polyamous relationship that makes sense and that works - it was nice to see it handled in such a way.

Unfortunately to explain exactly WHY this book went from 'bleh' to 'holy-freaking-crap-this-is-amazing' would require spoilers.

It ties itself together so freaking well, and all that trudging and struggling through has a payoff in the end. A big one.

If you're interested in high fantasy or science fiction with a brutal world but just can't stomach the extent of Game Of Thrones, this is the book for you. Just...uh...get through that first half.

View all my reviews

Book Review - Ink and Bone

Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Twenty-year-old Finley Montgomery is used to ghosts. Normally getting another tattoo or the roar of her motorcycle calms their calls - except for this time. Without the normal guidance of her Grandmother Eloise, Finley is thrust into a search for a missing girl the Hallows wants found. And the Hallows always gets what it wants.

As one of the few suspense novels I've read there were a few things that threw me off that could just be a part of the genre.

I didn't like the amount of history told for each POV character. To me there didn't seem to be much of a point to all that information.

The type of magic was too vague for me to be worried about whether or not they'd find the girl in time. I would have preferred something more concrete where I knew how it worked and therefor could be worried about when things weren't going well.

The usage of italics also threw me off quite a bit.

Those few things aside, however, the novel was excellent in atmosphere, story, and pacing. I loved the twist at the end - it's one where I thought back on all the instances that led Finley to the climax and could see how it worked out. The endings for all the characters were hugely satisfying. Not all happy, but satisfying, and I loved the characters who supported Finley in her journey. Both alive and dead.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in the darker aspects of paranormal works, and am happy to have read it!

View all my reviews

Book Review - Uprooted

Uprooted by Naomi Novik
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Agnieszka has grown up in her valley home with no intention of ever leaving. Just like her parents, her neighbors, and just like the villagers of the other towns in the valley.

The only ones who want to leave are the girls the Dragon has taken.

When he takes her instead of strong, brave, beautiful Kasia, Agnieszka's life is torn apart. Bit by bit she struggles to rebuild it in the solitary tower with her, the Dragon, and the reason he took her.

First off: I would recommend reading this book. It's a beautiful story with just the right amount of wrong things that happen balanced by the right things that do. However, I do have some very strong dislikes about it. To avoid spoilers I'll be vague - anyone is welcome to message me about specifics if you want a rant or two.

The first thing right off the bat I discovered was this reads very much like a classic. I don't prefer classics because they tell so much and don't show nearly enough for my taste. On the other hand, as I mentioned above, it's beautiful.

There is an attempted rape scene in here. And I hated how it was handled. In fact, for the most part I didn't like how the subject of sex itself was handled in this story.

Which brings me to my next point: Logic. There are some things in here that do not make logical sense both in the way the characters act and how things progress.

The romance is Twilight-esque. That's all I'm going to say.

How the magic system works. I love the magic system, I really do. It's fascinating. But by the end of the book I didn't have a clear enough understanding of it to fear for the characters. For all I knew at any point they could just wave their hands and mumble something and all would be grand.

Those are the things that kept me from enjoying it more. The aspects I loved, however, were the Wood and the idea behind it and how it progresses (except for a few jumps in logic); how Agnieszka makes mistakes and learns and grows from a fearful girl to a brave woman; Alosha; how the wizards interact with each other; and how everyone has their own faults and strengths and good and bad within them.

I was a bit unsatisfied with some aspects of the ending, but did quite enjoy others. All-around I would recommend this book, but I doubt I'll be picking it up to read again.

View all my reviews