Reviews tagging 'Death'

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

21 reviews

pitsny's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Violence

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

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

crownlullaby's review

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Suicide

surdiablo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Just as amusing as the first book with a much tighter plot. There's plenty of believable character development and moments that either kept me on edge or had me laughing out loud after midnight. Regardless of how intrigued I am by the history of the order of Magi or how much I like Logen, Glokta is the one who continues to steal the show for me so far consistently, way more than anyone else. Unfortunately, I can't say if I enjoyed this as much as its its predecessor ( I had spoiled the ending accidentally which did take away some emotional impact ), but I think it's an improvement over the first book when you consider the overall structure and writing. Without delving into details, you may either love or hate the ending depending on your preferences, I personally found it hilarious.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Torture, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Slavery and Alcohol

strawberrypinch's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Gore, War, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Colonisation, Trafficking, Murder, Cursing, and Xenophobia

Minor: Slavery, Body shaming, Racism, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Rape, Suicide, and Alcohol

jb567's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Trafficking, Chronic illness, Gore, Grief, Violence, War, Body shaming, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Toxic friendship, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Torture, and Xenophobia

whichwitcher's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 I'm rooting for the torturer?

We get top-tier character work again from Abercrombie. His writing is punchy and humorous, and, at times, it can be profound.

We got a little in the way of plot in book two, but I'd have preferred more. It felt like if The Blade Itself introduced us to individual characters and storylines, then Before They Are Hanged introduced us to how they interact as part of a group. I'm still itching to flesh out the central thread - and I'm dying to see how characters' storylines converge, if at all.

Please do be aware of the following trigger warnings prior to reading: Ableism, Alcoholism,  Amputation, Animal murder, Assault, Attempted rape, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Decapitation, Emesis (vomiting), Famine, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexually explicit scene, Skeletons, Slavery, Torture, War 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Torture, and War

Moderate: Genocide, Sexism, Animal death, Rape, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Minor: Alcohol

tmidge22's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual content, Death, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Rape