Reviews with content warning for Sexism - A Dance with Dragons

It took me years to pick this up because I knew this one focused on the characters I didn't like or found their chapters in previous books boring. It's so huge and it dragged on and on. It's not a bad book, but it felt overloaded by certain stories. At times it felt like it just focused on Dany, John, and Tyrion, which got old fast. Theon's chapters were extremely difficult to get through and made me feel a bit sick honestly. Also, agree with others about the repetition thing. I'm not a Tyrion fan as it is, but the "where do whores go" thing was so freaking annoying it made me dislike him even more. If this had more/some of the characters I love, I would have bumped it to a 3, but for over a thousand pages there was so little I actually enjoyed.

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frantically's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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ninjasunknown's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective 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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lilifane's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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

Reread 20.04.2024 (#4)

And another reread of the series finished. This time I read the whole series with some friends, and I loved the experience overall.
Sadly, it became even more apparent that not only is the series still unfinished, but books 4 and 5 also felt more like middle books that prepared the next novel rather than having a satisfying suspense curve on their own.
I still think the character work, atmosphere and writing are phenomenal. The plot is just all over the place.

Reread 29.11.2022 (#3)

It's been almost 10 years since I read the book for the first time and 8 years since I last reread it, but it feels like it's the first time I actually understood everything? I guess rereading books 1-4 so many times in the meantime has made me get used to the way GRRM tells this story. And I love it. By now I know exactly which details to look out for, which vague descriptions actually contain major plot points, which details foreshadow future scenes.

I remember the first time I read the book and was surprised by every betrayal, every plot twist, when now I'm like: He literally explained this 200 pages ago, this is no twist, this is a logical consequence everyone should have seen coming.

I'm not sure where the plot is going, though. I thought I knew but the story expanded so much in books 4 and 5, so many new characters and locations were added that it's hard to see it as one story with a beginning, middle and end by now. I have enjoyed every chapter because every single one has at least one crucial detail important for the plot, and it's fun to discover these. But I still think this book is a little too long. I get tired towards the end every time and don't have the energy to look for clues and details and hints. Especially with so many names and descriptions being thrown around.

Though I have to say that I'm more curious about The Winds of Winter than ever now after finishing this reread. I want to know how the story continues SOOOO badly, it's very frustrating.

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