I've been reading several other peoples reviews on Star Wars Inqusitor: Rise of the Red Blade, and I can definitely say there are certain points that I had a very different perspective of then some of them. As a bit of background on me, I am a queer neurodivergent person who grew up in a cult (christian fundamentalist type), so hopefully that explains some things. I can empathize with Iskat's anger, and I have an intimate knowledge of how hard it is when you feel like you're inherently broken and no one seems to care. I felt rage when she admitted this to the Jedi master and his reply was essentially you're not broken; you just need to try harder. I have been the child who hid and broke off pieces of themselves to fit in a mold that they were never meant to. The Jedi Order was messed up they tried to create black and white in a world of greys, and Iskat's story shows how it did damage. They weren't as bad as the sith, but they weren't good either. Both systems are inherently flawed. This book did a wonderful job of highlighting that. I wish Iskat could have found healing in the end or at least moved past the anger stage of grief, but that wasn't meant to be. I would love another book on Tualon and his journey from Jedi to Inqusitor as a companion. One final thing I'd like to highlight is that Iskat endured emotional neglect(at the least) and dealt with many of the same situations that cult members do, especially since she was indoctrinated from childhood keeping this in mind. It has been proven that abuse survivors (religious,emotional,domestic, etc.) will often seek out similar situations because they are familiar and "comfortable." (I am saying this as an abuse survivor) so her switch to the dark side makes sense on that level as well. She is a terrible person who enjoys being cruel and shows what can happen if you use trauma as a free pass to hurt others. Sorry for the long post. (No one's going to read this, so why am I apologizing?(probably trauma response(should I text my therapist..... probably)))




















