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eh1736's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism and Domestic abuse
Minor: Alcoholism
cybergoths's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Death, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Minor: War, Domestic abuse, Slavery, and Racial slurs
strawberrypinch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Torture, Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Cursing
Minor: Child death, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Trafficking, Colonisation, Cursing, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, War, Xenophobia, Confinement, Death, Excrement, and Vomit
elisaviihde's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Torture
mmefish's review
- 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
3.0
- Glokta and his crew. Terrific.
- How insufferable Jezal is.
- Very accurate portrayal of one's personal struggles.
- Humour.
- There's only 2 female characters (neither is a main character), both with minimal development.
- Too much "sucking on gums".
- The book is at least slightly racist. The only slaves we see (so far) are black, the southerns portrayed as savages, and one of the (few) characters with dark skin behaves like an animal. She literally hisses, wants nothing but to kill, jumps on tables to claw someone for no particular reason, described as to smell like piss, etc. She was a slave, not raised by wolves. Really unnecessary.
- Taking in consideration that it was written in 2006, reading multiple times that someone (a man) "fought/shrieked/cried/behaved like a girl/woman" was still a bit frustrating.
- Overexplanation. For example:
[Someone is getting whipped] Ferro twitched and winced at the sound, and her back began to tingle.
Where the scars were.
Almost as if she'd been whipped herself.
Dewy old eyes peered up and down. "Yes?"
"Inquisitor Glokta."
"Ah, from the Arch Lector?"
Glokta frowned, surprised. "Yes, that's right." They cannot be half so cut off from the world as they appear. He seems to know who I am.
Either way, I kinda see where this is going, and I can't say I like it. Plot is definitely the weakest thing about "The Blade Itself".
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Murder, Classism, Racism, Torture, and Misogyny
Moderate: Gore, Animal death, and Slavery
lidia138's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Classism, Dysphoria, Slavery, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Violence
marthadude's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Alcohol, War, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Sexism, Racism, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, Blood, Cursing, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Ableism, Vomit, Physical abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Sexual content
triforception's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Logen begins the story quite boring and stock, but as we learn more about him and see him interact with the wider world and other characters, he gains a lot more of his own shape. Luthar never really won me over, but I began to accept him quite a lot more when it became clear that the author wasn’t necessarily on his side either. Glotka is flat out amazing, an extremely well-realized character, the best of the bunch. A faster pace would certainly have been nice, as well as an earlier introduction to some of the later narrators
If you’re willing to read this book for what it is, an extended introduction and establishment of characters for the main story, I think you can have a wonderful time with The Blade Itself. There’s a lot beneath the surface of an otherwise normal low-fantasy story that hints at complex characters ripe for the developing, a truly dark and somewhat horrific mythology and magic system, and some very fulfilling intrigue in the next books.
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Death, Child death, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Slavery
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual assault
olityr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Gore, Violence, and Domestic abuse
btrz7's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.75
Moderate: Death, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Slavery, Torture, and War