Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

43 reviews

katelynprice's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

4.5

Obviously, the world-building here is exceptional. I'm always into stories where individual strands connect and intertwine, so this book is right up my alley. I do think it took a bit too long to get to the end, though. I honestly think a good 200 pages could've been condensed, and then it might've been a full 5 stars, but the payoff in the end was glorious and worth the time and patience! Thank you, Brandon Sanderson, for confirming for me that I do indeed enjoy epic fantasy. 

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soyabeanos's review

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adventurous challenging tense slow-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

4.75

this was my first fantasy series and i absolutely loved it! 

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cheyannejeanette's review

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adventurous reflective slow-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? No

4.0

The world building and magic system in this book is amazing. Sanderson truly shines in those two areas. It was pretty slow paced and you don't learn how things work and the full implications of what's going on around the characters until the very end and even then you're left with lots of questions. Absolutely set up for a sequel and I will read the next one, but I think I need a bit of a break first lol

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dani_reis's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really dislike Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. They have such a big following and trying to do rereads with the audio is kind of painful. I have the audio at 2.70x speed, and it still feels like "gah I'm still not finished" but reading it instead makes me feel like the journey was enjoyable. 

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kennacrowe27's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.

I do not normally write out book reviews, but this is seriously one of the best books I have ever read and cannot stop thinking about it. 

The Way of Kings is an aptly named book. Although it follows several different characters with very different (though connected) stories, this book is about honor above all else. To take responsibility and do what is right over what is easy or personally advantageous. The amount of true introspection, courage, and sacrifice exhibited by the characters admittedly moved me to tears. 

This is indeed a long book, but to experience the rollercoasters of the incredibly well-crafted character arcs is absolutely worth every single page. Watching these characters struggle and come to grips with their situations is truly inspiring and, as only the best books do, has made me feel less powerless in the world. 

Apart from the characters, the world-building is just as incredible as other Sanderson books. Roshar is an incredibly rich and diverse place, and I am looking forward to learning more about the various cultures in the next book. There were also a number of plot twists presented at the very end that are making me so impatient to start Words of Radiance. 

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nojerama's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow. Holy shit. Ok I get what you were all talking about now. 

It started slow, but Sanderson's storytelling was frankly immaculate and he weaved all the threads together with precision and care. Kaladin was a firm favourite from the get go, Shallan is a character archetype I adore (I'm a forever student at heart and so seeing characters in any learning environment is my jam) plus her whole dilemma and how she deals with Jasnah was wonderful to watch grow and blossom. Dalinar was a slow burn but grew on me, his dry wit and blunt nature plus the inherent vulnerability in having a POV character deeply question their sanity meant I couldn't help but love him. Also loved Wit after seeing him
as Hoid in Tress of the Emerald Sea
, he made me snort my tea from laughing. 

The audiobook narrators were phenomenal, genuinely no idea why people were bitching about Kate Reading so much (maybe it's a marmite thing but I adored how she read Shallan). There were like one or two things I thought maybe needed a biiiiit more breathing room (for example I do not for one second believe Jasnah would have forgiven Shallan so quickly at the end there) but also for pacing sake I understand why they went the way they did so I'm not complaining. 

Also sorry I just have to, spoilers below also beware of cursing:
THE PARSHMEN?!? THE PARSHMEN ARE VOIDBRINGERS?!?!?!? When I got to that bit as God is my witness I paused my audiobook and just went what the FUCK

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lea2322's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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katrinarose's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

There’s so much to learn about this world that I feel like this 1000+ page book was just a brief introduction! While it has a slow start, it all felt necessary to build the groundwork for what I have no doubt will be one of the most epic, complex classic fantasy series ever written. Sanderson also doesn’t infodump so you learn about the world and characters a bit at a time and it doesn’t feel overwhelming (although it is often confusing because historical/magical/character context hasn’t yet been explained - but I imagine this makes rereads even better). The characters were all very compelling and the ending was so good! I’m excited to continue on with the series.

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drbealstod's review

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adventurous hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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scifi_rat's review against another edition

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adventurous tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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