Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

63 reviews

the_night_reader_'s review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Sexism, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Torture, Excrement, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Blood, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Violence, Slavery, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Murder, and Medical trauma

sydnieblair's review

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Xenophobia, Slavery, Classism, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Child death and Cannibalism

da3m0nic's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Blood, Death, Torture, Physical abuse, Gore, Domestic abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Sexism, Confinement, Mental illness, and War

tweedlesmart's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Torture

ripxw's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and War

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Torture

Minor: Slavery

nerdkitten's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Animal death, Alcohol, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexism, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Deportation, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Trafficking, Vomit, Xenophobia, Excrement, Fatphobia, War, and Body shaming

Minor: Slavery, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Grief, Police brutality, Child abuse, and Genocide

loganjana's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

4.0

As a standalone, this book is nothing but a character study, and the characters don't have much growth considering it's five hundred pages long. Five hundred pages of exposition for a story I am frankly not overly interested in continuing. Logen is this book's saving grace, as is the juxtaposition between him and Glokta. I am perhaps giving it the benefit of the doubt with rating, assuming it's all worth it down the line. Given all that, is a fascinating exercise in character- and (arguably) world-building. Unfortunately, I could write an essay on the seeming afterthought of the relatively flat female character(s). Again, I've been told this gets better. We'll see.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Torture, Classism, Violence, Ableism, Gore, and Sexism

Minor: Slavery and Physical abuse

josiah17'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was great. The prose is wonderfully readable and fluid. The book starts very character focused with extremely well realized characters. Every POV is engaging. The plot is not the most captivating, but that doesn't matter when you write characters and dialogue like Abercrombie can. However, the plot does pick up near the end and there's a sense of direction for where this story is headed. And I'm very intrigued. 

I also love the world Abercrombie has crafted here. It subtlety mysterious, and it feels vast and grand in scope, which is always something I want to feel when immersed in a fantasy world. 

I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of Abercrombie's works in the First Law universe. He's instantly a new favorite author. 

Update 11/6/23: I keep going back and forth with this decision, but for now I'm bumping to 5 stars. It's abundantly clear I love this trilogy even more as time passes.

Update 12/30/23: Back down to 4.5. or a 4.75. idk, it's excellent just not 5 stars for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Gore, and Violence

Minor: War

foxmulders's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

i had fun but i am not super into trilogies that dont have much pay off within each book… this whole book felt like a lengthy exposition. love logen and bayaz tho.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Cannibalism, Gore, Torture, Death, and War

amir_hamza's review against another edition

dark funny slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, and Cursing