Reviews - Antes de que los cuelguen

5.38k reviews for:

Antes de que los cuelguen

Borja García Bercero, Joe Abercrombie

4.3 AVERAGE

bubblebee8's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

cris_m's review against another edition

4.0

This second book in the trilogy cemented my opinion that this was in fact a single book cut into thirds based on word count aaaaand I don’t really love this way of writing series. If the humour and characters hadn’t hooked me, I wouldn’t have picked up the next book just based on the plot. There’s a lot of going in circles and doing things that are realistic but not necessarily satisfying to read about. But since those elements are paired with interesting world-building, it felt like it compensated to an extent.

For example, the siege of Dagoska was the sort of endeavour that was doomed from the start and the evolution of the plot enforced that. I read those parts wondering where it was going to go, if there would be any last-minute surprises, but it turned out that my initial evaluation of the situation was spot on. The only progression that took place was an improvement in Glotka and Vitari’s relationship and maybe a bit of evolution on Glotka’s part.

All of it feels like the middle segment of the book when the characters are mid-journey, mid-development, mid-arc, mid-everything. I can’t say it was particularly satisfying. The upside was that it was written with evident skill, so the prose itself, the humour and the wit were enjoyable.

One thing that bothered me was the emphasis on the women of this world being assaulted. Ferro being sold to a brothel as a child, then Cathil being starved until she acquiesced, then Ardee contemplating doing the only thing she could to make money. It all rubbed me the wrong way because in a way it reduced their value to a sex-object, even if it tried to portray them as taking control of what was done to them. When one is left without options, that’s not control, that’s the mind coping with the situation.

So, to conclude, I’ll be picking up the third book because at this point I’m too invested in the story to not see it through.