Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

24 reviews

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

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

podanotherjessi's review

challenging tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This is not nearly as devoid of plot as so many claim, which is definitely a point in the book's favor. But it's still primarily character driven for the first 2/3 or more of the book, so when you don't really latch onto the characters, it's hard to be invested. There was really only one plot line that kept me interested, so until the rest of the stories started converging with that one, I was really uncertain how I felt. Now that I've finished, I know I liked it, but I'm not sure of much beyond that. I will definitely be continuing the series though because I am very curious to see where it all leads.

Characters: 8
Plot: 6
Setting: 7
General Appeal: 7
Writing Style: 9
Originality: 8
Ending: 7

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Cannibalism

bookishnatalia's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Slavery and Cursing

Minor: Sexism