Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

21 reviews

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

bookishplantmom's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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

4.0

The second entry in the series worked a bit better for me. I’d say the second half was more engaging than the first. I definitely found myself more intrigued by the book given that there is more of a plot and now that I know the characters a bit seeing them progress was nice as well. I still think I need a bit more to keep me engaged with the story but overall an enjoyable story. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

coulro's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Genocide, Grief, Animal death, Sexual content, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Classism, Cursing, Murder, Self harm, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, and War

kylieqrada's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

I am so bad at rating books because it is legit allllllll vibes. The further I get into a series and the more invested I get, for the most part, my rating goes up. And there wasn't much room to improve here from The Blade Itself's 4.5 ⭐s! We were definitely moving and grooving more in this one (in some cases literally - ew Joe don't write sex scenes) and I am READY for book threeeeeeeee.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Slavery

podanotherjessi's review

challenging tense medium-paced

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

4.25

WOW This was an improvement over the last book. Just already knowing the characters made this much better. I still wish the plots seemed more interconnected, and some characters I care considerably more or less about, but this was a good book. If you're on the fence after The Blade Itself, I recommend giving at least book 2 a shot.

Characters: 9
Plot: 8
Setting: 8
General appeal: 8
Writing style: 9
Originality: 9
Ending: 9

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Rape, Slavery, and Vomit

taglharp's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Cannibalism, Sexual content, Slavery, and Torture

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault