Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Wise Man's Fear

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

22 reviews

amelia_d's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

2.5

I'm quite disappointed to be honest, but my feelings about the book are very mixed so it's quite hard to give it a star rating that feels right.
The main positive for me is the incredible, detailed and original world building. I felt really engrossed in the world and loved learning more about how this world works.
For the most part I also found the story very compelling and intriguing, although it is quite scattered in a real-worldy kind of way which I'm aware some people didn't like.

Despite all that, the negatives for me almost made it unreadable at times. The main issue for me was that I found Kvothe thoroughly unlikeable, for most of the book he's constantly bragging about everything he does and how brilliant he is at everything he tries. I found this very grating. However it was almost unreadable due to the way Kvothe talks about women. I won't get into the details so this can remain spoiler free but at times I felt like I was reading a fanfic written by a 14 year old boy or an incel. I was cringing and sending pics to my friends/boyfriend of some paragraphs because I actually couldn't believe what I was reading. It felt very much like reading an incel's sexual fantasy who wishes that they could be Kvothe and I absolutely hated it. (also mild spoiler, there's a bit where Kvothe almost literally says "not all men" to a SA victim, seriously.)
So I am very torn. As I say, the story is compelling and intriguing and the world building is very impressive but at times the writing got so bad in terms of female characters in particular that I really don't know that I could bring nyself to read the 3rd book if it's ever completed.

Content Warnings

tinyjude's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

1.25

I AM FREE.
I thought the book was never going to end, even when I skipped some chapters because they were so fcking unnecessary. So, because I was dreadfully bored and I want to get this done quickly here it goes:

The first half is the same as the first book, same problems, same enemies, everything felt like the 1st book which doesn't help to further the plot. Then, he travels the world but it quickly becomes boring as the story drags and drags and drags on inconsequential events. And just when I was starting to tolerate Denna, it gets worse. No single woman character can be saved here oh my god. The sexism in the descriptions... I wanted to hit myself with the book (and mind you, it weights more than a fcking brick so I could probably end with my skull half-opened). They are disgustingly described and characterized by their beauty and sensual qualities, they all fall for him, try to be cold but melt under his touch and oh, the part with the fata woman. I thought it was satire. I didn't need to read about how much he fcks and how a virgin boy is so good in bed. Dude, I can't believe that and I don't care, go back to the important plot.

And none of the big questions are answered. Just more sub-plots are added and not resolved. The pacing is bad, many chapters were not needed, the female characters need a shit ton of development, he is still a pain in the ass knowing-all and annoying. Many information about how intelligent or dexterous he is, is repeated following the exact same grammatical structure, which made it even more irritating. I just wanted this torture to end. I am probably missing a lot of other complaints and criticisms but I just want to forget already about this book

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