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ekcd_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-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
4.75
Significantly better than the second book. Some good slow burn re Locke and Sabetha. Makes me sad that its been 11 years waiting for the fourth book. Woof
Content Warnings
Graphic: Excrement, Sexual content, Torture, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Gore, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Abandonment, Misogyny, Rape, and Vomit
felofhe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Torture
dragonaion's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
As a devourer of the previous two books, I jumped into this one eagerly expecting the wonders of Locke and Jean to unravel into something amazing, especially with the possibility of finally meeting this magical Sabetha!
... I was disappointed. The previous romance in the last book was passionate, communicative, balanced, and heartfelt in every sense of the word. Women as a whole in the previous novels were a sight to behold, and truly made me (a female reader) see them as true equals to the men. Even if they died, they were majestic and were taken by Aza Guilla in the epitome grace. Sabetha pales in comparison; she feels like a girl so desperate to be the queen bee that she fails to see how she can embetter Locke and the other Bastards while still shining beside them, as best shown by Locke and Jean. She works alone now because she was jealous and afraid of being in the Bastards' shadows. While understandable, she is flighty, spooked by her own shadow (not to mention a heartfelt relationship), and I feel she actually brought Locke and Jean down, which does not validate her reasons. She could have been the "Rose of Camorr", but I can see how Locke grew into and became the "Thorn of Camorr" while her works stayed "petty" (as far as we know) and theatrical. The scheme she, Locke, and Jean completed seemed juvenile and lacking gravitas when compared to the previous book where they knowingly crippled a political empire- headfirst.This crippling was more of an third-party-related accident
As a whole, if she were replaced with some other phantom, it wouldn't have diminished the story at all and might have given inspiration for the Bastards' genius. Even my romance fix was sated,thanks to Jean's history , so she was arguably unnecessary (we'll see later).
I also was disappointed to have an epic history about Locke suddenly (seriously, bad timing) dropped in; he didn't need his past explained, he simply was, and that's what made him amazing. He turned from a relatable, average guy who gets in above his head (brilliantly!) with lovable foibles (perfect for the Crooked Warden in every way) to some epic magically made entity- that did not better him or the story. Lastly, I would have appreciated more closure with the group as they returned to Chains, their escapades was worth a casual retelling to their benefactor.
This book does not read like an ending, and as the author expertly laces the past with the present, this is a book starting to lace a new future for us readers to enjoy. I'll definitely be in line for a copy, my thoughts of Sabetha aside, and hope to see more clever and thought through schemes that are worthy of the Bastards.
Edit: Just found that book #4, "The Thorn of Emberlain" will be released (as of 5/10/23) in Feb '24 and there are a total of seven books in the series. I'm glad this isn't the end, but I'm worried it might feel like the end of the series.
Edit 2: I've found another book that is a sibling-story to this, but Nevernight by Jay Kristoff shows precisely what Sabetha was trying to be. Mia's surpassed this older woman with flying colors at almost half her age. If you enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora, you will absolutely feel right at home with Nevernight.
... I was disappointed. The previous romance in the last book was passionate, communicative, balanced, and heartfelt in every sense of the word. Women as a whole in the previous novels were a sight to behold, and truly made me (a female reader) see them as true equals to the men. Even if they died, they were majestic and were taken by Aza Guilla in the epitome grace. Sabetha pales in comparison; she feels like a girl so desperate to be the queen bee that she fails to see how she can embetter Locke and the other Bastards while still shining beside them, as best shown by Locke and Jean. She works alone now because she was jealous and afraid of being in the Bastards' shadows. While understandable, she is flighty, spooked by her own shadow (not to mention a heartfelt relationship), and I feel she actually brought Locke and Jean down, which does not validate her reasons. She could have been the "Rose of Camorr", but I can see how Locke grew into and became the "Thorn of Camorr" while her works stayed "petty" (as far as we know) and theatrical. The scheme she, Locke, and Jean completed seemed juvenile and lacking gravitas when compared to the previous book where they knowingly crippled a political empire- headfirst.
As a whole, if she were replaced with some other phantom, it wouldn't have diminished the story at all and might have given inspiration for the Bastards' genius. Even my romance fix was sated,
I also was disappointed to have an epic history about Locke suddenly (seriously, bad timing) dropped in; he didn't need his past explained, he simply was, and that's what made him amazing. He turned from a relatable, average guy who gets in above his head (brilliantly!) with lovable foibles (perfect for the Crooked Warden in every way) to some epic magically made entity- that did not better him or the story. Lastly, I would have appreciated more closure with the group as they returned to Chains, their escapades was worth a casual retelling to their benefactor.
This book does not read like an ending, and as the author expertly laces the past with the present, this is a book starting to lace a new future for us readers to enjoy. I'll definitely be in line for a copy, my thoughts of Sabetha aside, and hope to see more clever and thought through schemes that are worthy of the Bastards.
Edit: Just found that book #4, "The Thorn of Emberlain" will be released (as of 5/10/23) in Feb '24 and there are a total of seven books in the series. I'm glad this isn't the end, but I'm worried it might feel like the end of the series.
Edit 2: I've found another book that is a sibling-story to this, but Nevernight by Jay Kristoff shows precisely what Sabetha was trying to be. Mia's surpassed this older woman with flying colors at almost half her age. If you enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora, you will absolutely feel right at home with Nevernight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Rape, Sexual violence, Vomit, Murder, Body horror, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming and Misogyny
While not an actively combatheavy book, unlike the previous two, there are still some trademark violent and adult themes.aether_a's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
<Sabetha is amazing!!! I think that there could have been more foreshadowing for the ending and it should have been more clear> The characters and their interactions are amazing. The plots were hard to be invested in. It seemed that a lot of it was just there to put the characters together, which is fine, I just wish it were a bit easier to be invested in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Gore
Moderate: Body horror
jupitermond's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault and Rape
vittorioseg's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This are two novellas who were forcefully mashed together and added 200 pages of bland filling. It never go anywhere, it barely had jokes, the stakes were nonexistent in the "prank" war of the gentleman bastard and it was worldbuilding that ended, once again, with John and Locke with nothing. This was just filler for, I think, the second series. Background of the sad and tragic
figure that is Locke of the second trilogy and my god, it was boring. It was tedious. I laughed in some instances, sure, but you can cut 2/3 of the book and it would lose nothing. This should have been a novella. A 200 pages novella at most, an interlude between here and the actual meat of the series.
But I honestly don't think there is anything else for the series. The introduction of the dark forces and eldritch bullshit just made it trite. The author can write romance at all and the reincarnation angle just made Locke more insubstantial, more a pastiche than anything noteworthy. This was just a tour of how utterly eclipsed the gentleman bastards are in the world, how insignificant, how much they can fall (just like last book) and I guess its an honest representation of the depression of the author, but its not worthy the time I put with it.
figure that is Locke of the second trilogy and my god, it was boring. It was tedious. I laughed in some instances, sure, but you can cut 2/3 of the book and it would lose nothing. This should have been a novella. A 200 pages novella at most, an interlude between here and the actual meat of the series.
But I honestly don't think there is anything else for the series. The introduction of the dark forces and eldritch bullshit just made it trite. The author can write romance at all and the reincarnation angle just made Locke more insubstantial, more a pastiche than anything noteworthy. This was just a tour of how utterly eclipsed the gentleman bastards are in the world, how insignificant, how much they can fall (just like last book) and I guess its an honest representation of the depression of the author, but its not worthy the time I put with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, and Child death
Moderate: Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
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