Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

23 reviews

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

catsy2022's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Vomit and Sexual content

Minor: War

saemiligr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Powerful. Was completely swept away. Was mildly amused to remember that Logan talked to spirits. Read so many books where this was a big deal, and for this character it was a just a minor foot note of a complicated person.  Jezal's transformation was good, while Glokta's entire story is fascinating. It's exactly what people have said, none of them are GOOD people, but they are FACINATING people. 

I absolutely cackled with horror when the enormous journey ended up being a waste of time. It felt like a painful reflection of life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Murder, Death, Torture, War, Medical trauma, Animal death, Violence, and Chronic illness

marthadude's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Cursing, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Vomit, and War

Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty

Minor: Fatphobia and Suicidal thoughts

There is a scene where a female character is about to be raped but is saved. There are also consensual sex scenes. They aren’t too graphic but they get the point across. Lots of mentions of death, war, and torture.

btrz7's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Child death, Gore, Torture, War, Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Religious bigotry, and Violence

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

jw03's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Minor: Sexual assault

redwavereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

What a sequel.
The character work continues. I am very much invested in every one of them.
It’s brutal and bloody and I like it.
Book one was the setting of the pieces, and book two is the middle game - it’s not clear who will win and the first hard hitting losses were endured.
Book one was barely any greater world building, only hints, and book two is starting to dive into politics and magic.
I’m very excited for book 3.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and War

Moderate: Blood and Torture

avscarlett's review

adventurous dark funny 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Torture and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Murder