Read If: you want a Sci-Fi book that isn't a carbon copy of every other Sci-Fi story written by white men, you enjoy well-written 2nd person, you're looking for an adventure, you enjoy strong female leads, you want to get immersed in a new world.
This book almost made me cry - it got me to fall back in love with sci-fi/fantasy after years of reading tropes and cliches by usually white male authors (or white female authors' takes on white male authors' cliches) over and over.
I can't write a good enough review for this book. I feel like I just can't do it justice - it's easily my top book (series) for the year, and I devoured it.
Jemisin totally breaks the mold in this entire series. The characters are real in a gritty way; it's easy to love them, hard to forgive them, and you cringe when they make moves that feel questionable. The Fifth Season definitely gives off a feeling of what the world might look like in the future - a broken earth trying to get revenge, people trying to survive, and oppression still reigning in some form or another.
Following Jemisin's character after devastation and learning about her past was a wonderful experience. It's a book I will go back to without a doubt over and over.
Pros: This list will be pages long if I don't restrict myself, so I'll try to keep it short - the sci-fi aspects are easy to understand, although far from what we experience today. The character is relatable as hell. It has a very classic journey that is also very unique. There's magic, more than one romantic relationship, trans characters, and Jemisin doesn't spare her characters - she puts them through hell to see how they come out on the other side. The parallels to race issues in today's society is also obvious without feeling tired. It's beautiful, aching, a warning for the future.
