Reviews with content warning for Blood - A Game of Thrones

I put off reading these books for a long time as I didn't think they would be of any interest for me. Boy was I wrong. While the writing in A Game of Thrones may be misogynistic, uneccesarily violent and gory, involve far too may assult scenes of all kinds, I still enjoyed this novel and the setting of the world.

I think it's the otherworldy mysteries of Beyond the Wall and dragons and remnants of magic that mostly kept me interested in this book. Had it been just a plain world setting as the backdrop I would have put this book down long before the last pages. I enjoyed following through the different perspectives of all the characters and almost getting a dragon's eye view of the entire world rather than just one small section.

On the other hand, the writing is very dark at times, uneccesarily so and involves far more rape, murder and pillaging that I think is ever needed in any series. But it does convey such a sense of darkness to the world and ensures the reader is fully aware that this will not, in any way shape or form, be a happy world.

Content Warnings

daneyyy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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? No

4.5

Content Warnings

vayalanay's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

cepbreed's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

After I finished Game of Thrones I had a conversation with my dad. I told him I loved the series so much and was considering reading the books because I was just that desperate for more content. He very matter of factly told me that reading the books was just "too nerdy." For context my dad is a classics professor who consumes books like he needs them to live, aka he's a nerd of all nerds. If he was telling me this then it genuinely would be too far to start reading, yet here I am not heading his warning and transforming into a total nerd. My new reborn nerd self is now the proud owner of the box set of all released books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.

I think the person I was earlier this year would've hated this book so much. Thanks to Kristin Cashore's Graceling Realm series I've matured as a reader and sincerely become a fantasy fan. The slower pace, world building and detail intense writing is exactly what there is to love in the genre and George R. R. Martin is the master of all of those things. I get bored easily, yet even when reading chapter upon chapter of content I've already seen on the screen my attention is held. My biases created by the show definitely are following me into the reading and I find myself dreading certain POVs (...specifically Dany's I KNOW CONTROVERSIAL OPINION) and hanging onto every word of others (Sansa, I love her!), but this just goes to show how masterful Martin is at creating compelling characters people identify with and are passionate about. I just can't wait to get into the next book and start on Jaime and Brienne's interactions!!

Song:

The View Between Villages - Noah Kahan

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