The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, 1)

A bit convoluted, could have been written in a simpler way. But really strong concept.

OBSESSED

Objectively, this is a real good start to what I have heard is a great fantasy trilogy. This was a difficult book for me to rate because I think my personal rating of the book (7 ⭐️) and what I can recognize as the rating objectively great components of the book (9 ⭐️) would lead to different ratings. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book but man were there many times when I read something and thought “what the actual fuck” or I was caught unawares by something abrupt and uncomfy. This book is intentionally written to make you uncomfortable and questioning. There is a lot of bigotry, “othering”, and dehumanization talk and wrestling with those themes in this book. But the way it is implemented into the story is key to the journey of a lot of characters and understanding the world and different choices. It has a point. It teaches you things and makes you - and the characters - confront things you’d rather not. There were also times where I genuinely laughed at some of the things characters said. Sometimes in a “what the fuck where did that come from” kind of way. Or from my own funny brain and kindle comments lol. The prologue is the most disorienting and confusing thing to read. The writing is a very specific style and very cryptic “let’s start at the end” in the prologue. You definitely need to adjust to the style and also make it past the prologue. The story is written in second person POV so be ready for that. It is also non-linear and fragmented in a lot of ways, but also organized and stitched together in a way that does end up making sense at the end in a satisfying way. Trust the process lol Ultimately, I can recognize this was a really well written book and the start to a good fantasy trilogy. The world building is unique and the magic system is as well. I loved how visceral orogeny felt. But I just didn’t get that into it while reading it, and most characters I didn’t really care about, which ultimately has lead to the rating disparity for me 🤷🏻‍♀️

DNF....Chapter 6 and still its just not for me. This is a book with an imaginary world and trying to figure out the different factions and the many main characters just got to exhausting and complicated. Sorry just not for me.

2.75 - this narration was all over the place. i could barely follow it which could be on me but the second person narration really took me out of the story. there was so much the author tried to include in the story and i don’t think it worked. it was just a confusing narration and i didn’t enjoy it. it’s not bad writing per say, but definitely not for me. this was a slog to get through.