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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-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
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is a bit of an oddity. For all that it's dark, edgy and brooding it isn't grimdark. It seems to me the author is trying to contrast the darkness of his dog-eat-dog world with specifically Heterosexual Love as a force for good in the world.
However the exploration of this dynamic / juxtaposition remains incredibly surface-level.
There is only one true love in Brent Week's world and it is the romantic attraction between a man and woman. (It is very important that any same-sex attraction is portrayed as deviancy and probably the result of severe childhood abuse. We must pray for them to the one true god 🙏)
The book very much believes in quantity over quality here: Pretty much every named character's life revolves around romantic love in some way shape or form. Other passions are rare, and while bonds between friends, family, caretakers occasi nally show up, they rarely play a role and never motivate characters to rise to the occasion and become more than they are.
At some point I wondered if in early childhood someone had locked Brent Weeks in a room with only Romeo & Juliet to read.
Anyhow. While a lot of this book is trite, repetitive, cliché, [insert adverb here], it isn't boring. After you get over a hump at the start the story has a good pace to it and it manages to deliver a really satisfying ending, all things considered.
I wish this book just sucked, then I could just toss it, but I got nothing to do and I'm morbidly intrigued.
However the exploration of this dynamic / juxtaposition remains incredibly surface-level.
There is only one true love in Brent Week's world and it is the romantic attraction between a man and woman. (It is very important that any same-sex attraction is portrayed as deviancy and probably the result of severe childhood abuse. We must pray for them to the one true god 🙏)
The book very much believes in quantity over quality here: Pretty much every named character's life revolves around romantic love in some way shape or form. Other passions are rare, and while bonds between friends, family, caretakers occasi nally show up, they rarely play a role and never motivate characters to rise to the occasion and become more than they are.
At some point I wondered if in early childhood someone had locked Brent Weeks in a room with only Romeo & Juliet to read.
Anyhow. While a lot of this book is trite, repetitive, cliché, [insert adverb here], it isn't boring. After you get over a hump at the start the story has a good pace to it and it manages to deliver a really satisfying ending, all things considered.
I wish this book just sucked, then I could just toss it, but I got nothing to do and I'm morbidly intrigued.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Excrement
Moderate: Homophobia
Azoth grew up in the slums as part of a guild, where he had to protect himself and his friends from the guild leader, Rat. When his best friend gets beaten up by Rat, Azoth decides he’ll do anything to make sure Rat doesn’t do any more damage, and so he decides to try and get an apprenticeship with the city’s most ruthless assassin, Durzo Blint. Although this will give him the ability to escape Rat, and save his friends, the road ahead of him is anything but easy. Azoth must change his identity completely, and learn the ways of an assassin, however before he can be given the chance, he must kill Rat.
The Way of Shadows didn’t have a great start, however there was still some potential for it to improve. As I progressed through the story, it only got worse, becoming increasingly boring. I became very irritated with it, since it had quite a few problems. It was overly clichéd, making it unoriginal, predictable, and very basic compared to a lot of the other fantasy books I’ve read. I found the plot to be very confusing. There were too many minor characters that I did not care about, who were part of side plots which disrupted the flow of the story. It seemed like a lot of them had been written in just to die, so that ultimately, the main characters could make it out alive. There was one instance where Azoth came so close to death that it was ridiculous that he didn’t die. All the characters were shallow and lacked personality, making them difficult to like. The way the women were written was dreadful, they were either prostitutes, or very naïve and weak, and there was no in between. To top it off, the writing style was poor, and seemed like it came from a children’s book.
The Way of Shadows didn’t have a great start, however there was still some potential for it to improve. As I progressed through the story, it only got worse, becoming increasingly boring. I became very irritated with it, since it had quite a few problems. It was overly clichéd, making it unoriginal, predictable, and very basic compared to a lot of the other fantasy books I’ve read. I found the plot to be very confusing. There were too many minor characters that I did not care about, who were part of side plots which disrupted the flow of the story. It seemed like a lot of them had been written in just to die, so that ultimately, the main characters could make it out alive. There was one instance where Azoth came so close to death that it was ridiculous that he didn’t die. All the characters were shallow and lacked personality, making them difficult to like. The way the women were written was dreadful, they were either prostitutes, or very naïve and weak, and there was no in between. To top it off, the writing style was poor, and seemed like it came from a children’s book.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i’m not sure i’m understanding the bad reviews? i think one star is very harsh for this book, i thoroughly enjoyed it. yes it was tropey and cliche, but the twists were fantastic, and i adore the characters and i can’t wait to revisit them in the next book. i think the reviews are WAY too critical, this was well written and very enjoyable.
Jeśli komuś podobała się szóstka wron i szuka czegoś w podobnym klimacie, ale dla dorosłych to ta książka może mu się spodobać. W wielu momentach przy scenach z Durzo miałam wrażenie, że takie same zdania mógłby wypowiedzieć Kaz.
This series grabbed me and would not let go
i had to know what was going to happen next - could not put it down
i found it to be a great hack and slash fantasy adventure with some really cool characters.
my brother read this one and didnt like it - he is wrong
try it - you will like it
i had to know what was going to happen next - could not put it down
i found it to be a great hack and slash fantasy adventure with some really cool characters.
my brother read this one and didnt like it - he is wrong
try it - you will like it
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.75
Wrap-Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaNuZvickbo&t=5s
Wrap-Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaNuZvickbo&t=5s