Reader’s Note
8 out of 10
Second person threw me. Got over it. The ending, though.
by@samWritten 1 March 2026Read 28 February 2026
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About this book
The Fifth SeasonN. K. JemisinIn the Margins
The Fifth Season reviewed by @tinyapartmentbigtbr
No idea how the second-person thing works as well as it does, and I've stopped asking. Tore through it, bought the next two immediately, have not opened either of them (they're in the tower by the door).9 out of 10@tinyapartmentbigtbr
The Fifth Season reviewed by @grimdarkgareth
Eight. Properly grim and never once edgy about it. Opens by telling you the world's ending and then makes you care about a schoolteacher anyway — how? Second person did my head in for fifty pages and then I stopped noticing it entirely.8 out of 10@grimdarkgareth
The Fifth Season reviewed by @hollowknightfan99
the second person thing I was prepared to hate turns out to be load bearing, and by the end I knew why it had to be written that way. sat in the car outside Tesco for ten minutes. best structure in fantasy, full stop.10 out of 10@hollowknightfan99
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