In the fifteenth chapter of The Broken Kingdoms, IS THIS THE REAL LIFE. IS THIS JUST FANTASY. Wait, it is fantasy. Huh. Well, I guess that doesn’t work anymore. Damn it, just read the review.
Chapter Fifteen: “A Prayer to Dubious Gods” (watercolor)
THIS CHAPTER IS UNREAL.
- SO GOOD AND SO SCARY AND SUSPENSEFUL AND I AM SO EXCITED TO READ MORE.
- They survived. They survived. Well, it’s more complicated than that, but oh my god, it worked.
- Well, even that is complicated by the cliffhanger at the end, but we’ll get to that.
- Jemisin’s narrating is breathtaking, y’all. The pacing in this chapter is rapid, visceral, and physical, a feat of diction and plotting and the depth of character embedded within every one of the creations of hers in this chapter. It’s unreal because it’s so fucking good. Oree’s pain is so terribly realistic throughout; the direness of the situation is always present; and the threat of Dateh’s appearance is never forgotten.
- What a goddamn spectacle.
- I mean, like… the third pages features Oree realizing she’s got to kill the very person who saved her. I had a very ridiculous reaction to the early pages of this chapter because I can’t recall a reading experience like this. The main character has to murder the god/person who saved her because he can regenerate, but then she has to wait for him to come back, and she’s blind, and she’s in a junkyard, and the god who resides over the place doesn’t want to help someone helping Shiny, and THERE ARE JUST SO MANY LAYERS TO ALL OF THIS.
- For example, the fact that Oree has to parse whether or not to murder Shiny is a big deal because she recognizes that the context is nothing like it was when she killed him a couple chapters ago. Yes, this might save her life, but that was in the heat of the moment. She describes it here as “calculated,” and that’s intentional. She has to plan on how to kill Shiny.
- Even that is fraught with difficultly, which causes Oree to burst out in anger: “Why the hells is everything so hard with you?” I demanded of Shiny, blinking away tears of frustration. “Hurry up and die!”
- Again, I can’t get over how surreal that is.
- To make matters worse (I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IT COULD GET WORSE, BUT IT DOES), there’s something stalking them in the junkyard. And Shiny is fighting Oree’s attempts to kill her. AND HE’S BLEEDING EVERYWHERE AND HIS BODY IS A HORRIBLE MESS AND THIS IS ALL SO DISTURBING. Why was I so upset about Shiny being injured? HE COULD JUST REGENERATE. Oh god, do I care about Shiny now? I DO, DON’T I? oh gods.
- So Oree does the only thing she can do in her limited state: SHE PAINTS A “HOLE” IN SHINY’S CHEST AND IMAGINES IT INTO REALITY AND HE DIES. THIS IS A THING THAT HAPPENS IN THIS BOOK. I can’t deal with this.
- And that’s precisely when Jemisin introduces Dump to us, the godling also known as the Lord of Discards, who is impossibly cute and I wanted to be his best friend and hang out with him all day, and I AM NOT FORGIVING YOU FOR DOING THIS, N.K. JEMISIN. DO NOT GIVE ME A CHARACTER LIKE DUMP AND THEN IMMEDIATELY TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
- But on a more serious note, Dump let slip a vastly important bit of information: Nahadoth is so furious that he has marked every single human in Shadow so that the black sun follows them. It now seems inevitable that the Nightlord is going to annihilate every single human from the city in retribution, and it’s so upsetting. The Lights angered him on purpose as a trap, and he’s falling right into it.
- At this point, NOTHING BECOMES OKAY FOREVER. That nameless little girl arrives; she’s clearly Dump’s friend, and she warns him about the people who have arrived. Of course it’s the Lights. Who else would it be? Plus, Shiny and Oree fell pretty much straight down, so it’s not like it would have been difficult to find them.
- Thus begins perhaps the most harrowing sequence of events in the novel so far. Oree’s got to find a way to… well, actually, that’s the challenge. Shiny hasn’t regenerated, and she doesn’t want to leave him behind. It’s here that I began to understand that chapter title’s reference. Left helpless, Oree was going to call on a god. But who? And she had to understand the god, which is something I didn’t quite comprehend myself until it was explained to me. Calling on Nahadoth was a bad idea and one that would definitely exacerbate matters. Oree also doesn’t know Yeine that well, so she can’t call on the Gray Lady.
- Moment of respect for the girl for getting Oree a broomstick. She didn’t have to, but I thought it was awesome that she did.
- So, I just want to definitively state that I love absolutely everything about Oree calling about Lady Lil. It’s a brilliant way to bring back that godling, to reference things Lil once said to Oree, and to describe the type of desire that Oree is feeling: hunger. I love that Jemisin uses the word as one of intense want instead of referring to food. Oree’s hunger is haunting because the truth is, she’s lost so much over the last week. She’s lost the man she loved, she’s lost her freedom, and it’s possible she’s lost any chance of a future. She craves so much in that instance that Lil arrives and quickly recognizes just how “tasty” Oree is. It’s an incredibly powerful and memorable scene, y’all.
- Which quickly becomes SUPER FUCKING DISTURBING. BECAUSE FIRST, LIL WANTS TO EAT THE LITTLE GIRL IN EXCHANGE FOR HELPING OREE, AND THEN SHE ASKS FOR OREE’S DAMAGED ARM.
- SHE’S GOING TO EAT OREE’S ARM
- NO OH MY GOD
- IT’S HAPPENING
- MAKE IT STOP OH MY GOD.
- Y’all, I totally forgot that Oree’s blood would have killed Lil. I feel comforted by the fact that Oree forgot as well. PHEW.
- SHINY IS BACK EVERYTHING IS GREAT.
- NOOOOOOO, DATEH IS BACK, TOO, EVERYTHING IS AWFUL.
- That’s a perfect approximation of my mental state. Hope and joy turned to utter dread and doubt.
- But let’s talk about the most gut-wrenching moment in the whole chapter. When the nameless girl is captured by the Lights, she calls out to Dump, her protector.
- “Dump did not appear. My heart sank.”
- That’s just fucking evil. No, NO.
- Look, can we just take a moment to appreciate that when Lil is faced with a demon scrivener who can create portals to spy on anyone and then suck beings into a vast unknown void known as The Empty for all eternity, SHE IS PROUD AND INTRODUCES HERSELF TO HIM.
- It takes Oree revealing that Dateh EATS THE HEARTS OF GODLINGS for Lil to get pissed, but I wondered if her anger was enough. How the hell was she going to combat one of Dateh’s portals, especially once it grew TO THE SIZE OF HER BODY?
- “Greedy mortal boy.” Lil’s voice was everywhere, echoing, shrill with delight. “Do you really think that will work on me?”
- THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE LINES
- I cannot say I understand what happens when Lil tries to eat one of Dateh’s portals, but it’s definitely one of the most surreal, exciting things in this whole trilogy. Y’all:
- “Finally, he scooped me into his arms and ran, as behind us the junkyard erupted in earthquakes and chaos and flames.”
- I NEED THE NEXT CHAPTER RIGHT NOW.
Please note that the original text and the videos use the words “crazy,” “mad,” and “insane.”
Part 1
Part 2
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