Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

8 reviews

da3m0nic's review against another edition

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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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nerdkitten's review against another edition

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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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singalana's review against another edition

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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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jb567's review against another edition

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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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whichwitcher's review against another edition

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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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marthadude's review against another edition

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

4.25

This is a great second entry in this trilogy. It builds on the foundations of the first novel and leaves a lot of interesting loose ends for the next book to hopefully wrap up. Abercrombie’s character work is fantastic. I do have a gripe with the way the female characters are written. Only one of them feels fleshed out and the rest seem more like objects for the male characters to gain more characterization. I wish they just had more to do. 

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btrz7's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5


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taglharp's review

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

4.0

4 bloody stars, and no mistake.

From a structural point of view, middle books in trilogies are always hard to judge for me. Not much experience analyzing them as I do with beginnings. The better they are in the elements I favor, the harder I know how to review them. This one is no different.

But. Say one thing for Abercrombie, say that he does not let you down when it comes to characters. Bastards they might be, bastard roles they might play, and yet no matter how vile... they fucking grow on you. If you were ever attached to any characters you met in the first book, well. I have both good and bad news for you in this one.

(And though I do have some qualms about certain choices in the narrative, they're few compared to the good.)

NGEL, don't think I'll be able to keep myself from jumping on the Last Argument of Kings ASAP.

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