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fifteenthjessica's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'm still invested in a lot of the characters, both ones who played a major role in this book and ones who don't play a major role or even appear until later, but reading it when you know a lot of the shocking moves,
I have heard a lot of people praise his world building, and as an aspiring writer/actual dungeon master who has dabbled in world building her own fantasy settings, Martin's quality is very inconsistent at best. Daenerys spends a lot of time with the Dothraki over the course of five hefty books, but the culture comes off as very one dimensional and most members of it are forgettable. I don't think I'm alone in remembering all Dothraki characters except Khal Drogo exclusively in terms of their relationship to Dany and maybe a name because they are very unimportant. Heck, there's a short paragraph in one of Dany's later chapters that feels like Martin is just dumping the personality of the youngest of her future bloodriders (Aggo? The three of them really blur together) on us in place of letting it unfold naturally as he interacts with Dany. The culture is mostly a combination of raiding and horses, almost to the point of impracticality (how many horses do they keep if they need them for transportation, fighting, clothing, and meat, plus burn horses in the funeral pyres of their leaders so they have a mount in the afterlife? There's a reason real world horseback nomadic cultures usually herd other animals). This is especially bad if you compare them to the equally raiding focused Ironborn, who in later novels are fleshed out through four point of view characters and with a number of memorable side characters that show that not everyone is raiding every waking hour of the day.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcoholism, Death, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Torture, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Infertility
Minor: Self harm and Trafficking
helenastinks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Incest, Sexism, Infidelity, War, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Grief, Rape, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Pedophilia, and Slavery
z4k_cz's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Child death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Rape
uhm_kai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Slavery
Moderate: Torture, Suicide, Fatphobia, Classism, Abortion, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, and Excrement
vigil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Vomit, War, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Slavery
corabookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and War
river24's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
wikawrites's review against another edition
2.5
There are already issues with the show about how women are portrayed, but after just the first book, I can already tell I prefer the show over the books. In the shows the characters are aged up, which makes some scenes easier to stomach. But the casual pedophilia in this book is terrible.
If it were not for my love of the show, this book would be an automatic 0 star.
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse
sidtheincrediblesloth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and War
Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Vomit
liz_ross's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
You know what this book has granted since the start? The love of all the readers out there who enjoy political intrigue. I have never read a book so full of political intrigue and where it is so well done as happens with this one. For lovers of political intrigue there's no better book than A Game of Thrones.
But it's not only lovers of political intrigue that will like it. The book has so many good aspects that there's no way you won't find at least one thing you like about it. It is a true, extraordinary masterpiece.
There's just so many things Martin deserves to be praised for in this book that I don't even know where to start. I guess I will choose the one I believe he deserves the most praising for - his unbelievable set of characters. It is just mind-blowing how Martin managed to insert so many characters in one book and give every single one of them complexity, depth and even at least a bit of backstory, making all of them unique. It's the characters who set the pace for the entire book, who give life to it and make it as interesting as it is.
They are dynamic, complex, credible characters that are so finely created you can't help but react to their presence. Whether hating, disliking, adoring or absolutely loving. Truth is, just like people in real life, I am pretty sure few are the characters in Game of Thrones that everyone feels the same about. But, no matter what you feel, the point is you feel. You can't stay indifferent when you read about them. AND THEY ARE SO MANY. More than anything, it's the massive amount of characters, all with their own traits, that proves of much Martin cares about the story. It's the ultimate proof of his effort and the time he spent working on the book, because otherwise more than half the characters that showed up would have been forgotten or two-dimensional. They are not.
It gets better. This set of characters, with complex lives and even more complex personalities, is used to populate an extraordinary world that may seem like your standard fantasy world in the beginning, but that has so much backstory to it that you quickly start feeling like it is one of the most original and unforgettable worlds you have ever had the chance to see.
And the best part about it is that even if you get a lot of information about the world, it never feels like that information is being dropped on you for the sake of it. Martin found such a perfect way to insert those informations in the plot that it feels like the scenes wouldn't even make sense if the information wasn't there.
With such an amazing world and characters so complex as Martin's, it's not a surprise that the plot is just as perfect. An intricate plot of conspiracies, court intrigues, lies and games of power that bring a new meaning to the expression "nothing is what it seems". I found myself in my own personal, dystopic paradise while I was reading this book. So many betrayals, people that cannot be trusted, lies and conspiracies!! 🤤🤤 It is just perfect for me.
But it also has its fair share of violence and gore, which makes it not such a good choice for some people, which is perfectly understandable. However, for someone who doesn't mind the violence, which is my case, I think it even adds more realism to the world. We are talking about a world that is crude, medieval and merciless. If it didn't have its share of violence, would it even be believable?!
However, and no matter how highly I am willing to praise Martin, there are things in this book that he did not handle well. Rape and forced marriage are not handled well. If you ask me if I have any idea why Martin chose to include them, I will tell you yes, I do. For the same reason he included gore and violence. If you ask me if I think it was really necessary, my answer is no, not really. But I don't think I have ever had or ever will have a problem with these matters being included in any book, whether I think it had a reason to be there or not, for as long as they are handled well. I don't think Martin did handle it well, but at the same time I think he is aware of that and wished he could have done more.
Let me try to explain. Most times when these matters are not handled well, I think the authors don't even realize that or care about it. I don't think that's the case with Martin. I think he included them because they were sort of commom in the world he created and he felt like he had no other choice. But even if he felt that way, I still think he could have done things differently. Let's take the girl whose forced marriage we witness in the book (let's try to avoid spoilers) as an example. All the first times when she had sex can and should be considered rape, because that's what it is. Rape. And Martin dealt with that so lightly, making her embrace, start enjoying and wanting and welcoming the sexual relationship with her partner that by the end of the book, I am sure many people have probably forgotten how it all started. But then, I don't think it was Martin's intention to dealt with it so lightly. I don't think he saw that as something normal or correct or that should be forgotten. He was the one who made sure to remind the readers she was only 14 when most readers probably no longer remembered that. And he did it in a way that left me with no doubts it was his way to show us he didn't agree. His way of screaming it was wrong, without really putting it into words. And later he does it again, with other character who was also raped; his new way of reminding us rape isn't right.
So, no, I don't think he didn't handle it better because he didn't care, but rather because he didn't know how to do that in a world that thought all of that was normal. And even if that makes him a better person, I don't think it justifies the way he handled things. It is still wrong. And if he didn't feel like he could handle it right, he shouldn't have included it.
Overall, I had the upmost pleasure of reading one of the most extraordinary masterpieces of nowadays, the number one book for anyone who likes political intrigue. An excellent book with an unforgettable world povoated with the most exquisite and complex set of characters whose dynamics result in an intricate and rich plot that will delight any reader. If only Martin had handled rape in the right way, this book would have got all the 5 stars.
"Can a man still be brave if he's afraid? That is the only time a man can be brave."
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism and Misogyny
Minor: Domestic abuse, Slavery, and Animal death