Reviews tagging 'War'

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

27 reviews

djthedj's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

My mans, my mans, my mans Abercrombie. Andrew asked me if this book had any heroes and I would say each POV character is a hero in there own right. Just not a good person… I admire Abe as a writer but as I read him more, I do begin to see his pitfalls as a writer. That which he used to so strongly characterize his POVs can come across repetitive if you read this quickly. Hearing Glokta lick his gums every time he shows up made me quirk a lip. But no matter because I enjoy every character. I’m invested in their story and I am very very excited to have everything come together. If he sticks the landing with the conclusion, it’ll be a 5 book for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Vomit, War, Torture, Violence, Chronic illness, and Body horror

downtowndaly's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Violence, Sexual assault, Torture, War, and Gore

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

lydiasbooknook's review

adventurous 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Rape

sydneyo_0's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

To me this book seems to be a very realistic outlook on politics, war, and questing. Not everything goes as planned, sometimes all you can do is watch as people make disastrous choices, and other times it is sheer dumb luck that keeps you alive. This book keeps fleshing out the characters and the world that the first book introduced. I love reading about morally grey characters

and to be honest I think that sums up the majority of the characters in this series.

 

I feel like I've learned a lot in this book but I still have no idea what will happen next. I'm eager to learn and excited to continue on. I'm looking forward to finishing this trilogy and I am sure that the last book will be the best of the three. I think I'm being realistic about this prediction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Torture, and Violence

mitskimonday's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and War

Minor: Sexual assault

da3m0nic's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Death, Gore, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Bullying, and Sexism

Minor: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Colonisation, and Domestic abuse

nerdkitten's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, War, Body horror, Classism, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, Animal death, Cannibalism, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

Moderate: Confinement, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Grief, Medical content, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

Minor: Abandonment, Body shaming, Slavery, Ableism, Rape, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Excrement, Alcoholism, Trafficking, Child death, Misogyny, and Self harm

katieismay's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, and War

maidofbees's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

singalana's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Before they are hanged is deliciously dark fantasy with gritty characters. The book picks up pretty much where The blade itself ended, and follows mainly three plotlines: the fate of Dagoska, the journey to the Edge of the World and the war between the Union and the Northmen.

The cast of characters is vast, but the characters are interesting and feel real with all their faults. Reading these books, it definitely feels as though the characters are influencing the plot as much as the plot is influencing them. The story arc is complex, and you can’t just pick up a book in the middle of the series and hope to understand what is happening. This book ends up the same as The Blade Itself: the story is by no means finished. Therefore if you like books in a series to have clear endings, then you are not going to like this.

I liked this book very much, and the narrator in the audiobook was excellent. My only complaints are that this book could have been trimmed a bit, it felt like it was going on for ever (even though it avoided being boring). And the second complaint was that the sex scenes were a little bit awkward to listen to in the audiobook. Other than that, I enjoyed this very much and I can’t wait to see what happens in the final book of the trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Animal death, Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Cursing

Minor: Medical content, Slavery, Alcohol, Body horror, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Trafficking, and Vomit