Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

22 reviews

mikariah's review

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.5

The world is nothing special (yet), mainly a list of names and references that make me imagine a somewhat more Westeros-esque shaped landmass of medieval Europe analogs (there is a place called Angland and a shapeless and unknowable 'North.' I mean, come on). If you're coming into it expecting something groundbreaking on that front, you'll probably not find it. Of course, there are many more books in this world, and I can't speak for what they all add to it. However, I found that the worldbuilding included enough things that kept it interesting enough for the story's purpose.

Because the thing that really sells this book for me is the characters.

And I can accept a LOT if the characters are great, which I believe that these are. Now, I'm a little biased because 'just-a-little-too-fucked-up' is exactly how I like my characters in the morning. Exactly. They are all problematic faves. Even the least terrible of them have some mess they're going through, and it sucked me in, which is good because there is not much plot to speak of. Yet.

The prose is straightforward and practical. Perhaps a little too much at times, and I wished there was less psychological distancing in the flow, but overall it read quickly and painlessly.

As a side note: the content warnings aren't necessarily expressing some sort of validation within the text. The characters are just... well, they have problems. And they experience problems.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Ableism, and Classism

Minor: Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Rape, Slavery, Vomit, War, and Xenophobia

netflixismyroommate's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book does what it sets out to do: tell a medieval fantasy war story. It’s just not attempting anything particularly original. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Blood, Sexism, Classism, Torture, Gore, Ableism, War, Misogyny, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Slavery, Genocide, Mental illness, Colonisation, and Cannibalism

Minor: Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry

ratat0sk42's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-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

Anyone who like complex characters, gallows humour, and dark, gritty fantasy will love this book.

It has smooth and easy to read prose, and lots of style with a surprisingly funny edge to its narration. Every single character has depth and motivations that make you unsure if they're the good guy or the bad guy at any given moment.

One thing some people may take issue with us that the book doesn't really have much of a plot in the traditional sense, not much actually happens but I found the characters tso engrossing I didn't mind at all. 

Another thing of note is that the book is part of the First Law trilogy, which is less three stories that fit together than one big story cut into thirds, as such it doesn't really end, it just flows into the next book. If you read this book, you're in for the long haul. it's a damn good  though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Chronic illness, Violence, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, Colonisation, Body horror, Blood, Xenophobia, Trafficking, and Cannibalism

Minor: Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Grief

mmefish's review

adventurous 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

3.0

What I liked:

1. Glokta and his crew. Terrific.
2. How insufferable Jezal is.
3. Very accurate portrayal of one's personal struggles.
4. Humour.

What I didn't like:

1. There's only 2 female characters (neither is a main character), both with minimal development.
2. Too much "sucking on gums".
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

Or:

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.

This happens multiple times throughout the story. We get it.

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".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Murder, Classism, Racism, Torture, and Misogyny

Moderate: Gore, Animal death, and Slavery

theliteraryhooker's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: War, Fatphobia, Vomit, Ableism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism and Racism

marthadude's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

I feel like I can't really review the book on its own merits since it's part of a trilogy, but it's an excellent start to a larger story. It's more character heavy than plot heavy, but the characters are really fascinating. I'm very eager to start on book two and to see where things go.

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Content Warnings

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

dark 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? It's complicated

3.5

The slowest of slow burns, this book feels like an extended intro to the sequel, which I must admit I’m very much looking forward to. If you come in expecting a fast-pace, Salvatore-esque fantasy, you’ll likely be disappointed - The Blade Itself is about introducing its characters, and in that regard it serves its purpose admirably.
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

Ferro and the Dogman, especially

as they add some variety and diversity to the cast.

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Death, Child death, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual assault

13octopus's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexism, Torture, and Xenophobia

Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Excrement, Infidelity, Rape, and Trafficking

anastasia_r's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny reflective medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Torture

tinyelfarcanist's review

adventurous funny 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

 I found myself oddly engrossed by this book where nothing happens.

Well-developed characters kept me wanting to read, but for the most part I wasn't sure where the story was going. ("spoilers": Nowhere.)

The main POVs are by these characters:
Logen Ninefingers has just lost everything. He doesn't have time to mourn, just to survive.

He didn't mourn even when he finally has some time to rest and it bothered me that his loss might just be a cheap tool.

Sand dan Glokta is a horrible human being. He has suffered enough to still inspire some sympathy.
Jezal dan Luthar is an arrogant and narcissist noble. His story was the one I found the most engaging.

I guess I've got a soft-spot for assholes in love

It fails the Bechdel test as the only two (relevant) female characters never meet. One of them was my favorite and I can't wait to read more about her.

I loved and loved to hate the characters. This book is just the setting up of the world and characters, but I'm definitely invested in The First Law world.

The Blade Itself is, as the inquisitors would say:
'Excellent,' said Glokta brightly.
'Excellent,' said Severard.
'Etherer,' said Practical Frost.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Slavery

Minor: Cannibalism and Vomit