Reviews tagging 'Torture'

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

49 reviews

riverofstyx's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, War, Toxic relationship, Torture, Rape, Physical abuse, Incest, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death, Cursing, Sexual violence, Gore, Violence, Sexism, and Adult/minor relationship

johnnyboy836's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Loved this book. I was too young to be a part of the Game of Thrones craze back in the mid 2010s, so I did not have a lot of the book spoiled for me. It was a slow buildup, but once I got a sense of who the characters were, I was fully enraptured. All the characters are written perfectly and you feel connected to them.

The story is definitely not for the faint of heart, as many scenes personally made me feel squeamish and uncomfortable. The detail written in these scenes make you feel like you are witnessing them yourselves and you can sense the dread and hopelessness. There are also many moments where you feel hopeful and optimistic. Overall though, the feeling of dread is the most prominent.

I am planning to continue reading the series, and if the later books are as good as this one, I am excited to see where the world of A Song of Ice and Fire is headed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, War, Animal death, Blood, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Incest, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, and Rape

talayz's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, War, Blood, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Sexual assault, Child death, Death, Violence, Domestic abuse, Torture, Incest, Infidelity, and Rape

ronanmcd's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Loved it. It reads like the box set it would become. You can't put it down. The Wars of the Roses in a fantastical world with mythic beasts. Perfect

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Gore, Torture, Violence, Sexual assault, Genocide, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Slavery, War, Child abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Child death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

maevesheehan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Child death, Xenophobia, Torture, Rape, Violence, War, Murder, Body horror, Blood, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Slavery, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Incest, Gore, and Death

timreadstoday's review against another edition

I just can’t bring myself to read this book. I’ve tried multiple times but I just can’t do it. The explicit content overwhelms the intrigue and mystery and story the author is trying to build. The cockroaches onwejelm the cake, 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Rape, Infidelity, Incest, Sexual content, Sexism, Abandonment, Blood, Violence, Vomit, Gore, Death, Torture, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, War, and Cultural appropriation

mattyvreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

First of all, this is the longest f*cking book that I have ever read. Was it good? I think so. Was it too long? I’d say so. What would I cut out? How the h*ll should I know? That’s for the producers at HBO to decide! That’s why they make the big bucks, hunny.

Thoroughly entertaining and well paced. For its genre, it succeeds on every level. There is political intrigue and deceit and betrayal and dragons and forbidden love and magic and nerdy sh*t like guys who say “methinks so, m’lord!”. It’s really firing on all cylinders.

I enjoyed it more than the show in many respects. There is an emotionality and tenderness to many scenes that is missing in the series because it’s “not exciting to see two brothers have a conversation about a big dog” or whatever. But it is exciting to me! And they should put that in there!

The thing that is tough is that these characters are literally children (aged up slightly in the show), and reading plot points about their physical relationships and sexuality was not fun. It’s not doing what it thinks it’s doing…

Overall, the goods far outweigh the bads. I mostly really enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Incest

Moderate: Confinement, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexism

Minor: Fatphobia

coolhandluke140's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

The book is, fine. I am not one for political intrigue, which features heavily. I have nothing stubbornly opposed to themes in this book, but neither do I enjoy the SA that is in it, nor the starkly (pun intended) young ages of the characters within. I get that it's supposed to be "middle ages" themed, but it seems unnecessary and unrealistic from what we actually know about the medieval ages. 

The actual world building and characters are quite interesting and the writing flows well, and the dialogue is well written. That is this book's saving grace. That and the narrator of this audiobook. He does an excellent job bringing these characters to life. 

I would recommend this book to those not easily put off by tough topics and those who find political intrigue interesting. If those two things aren't for you, I'd pass on this as there are many other fantasy stories that would probably be better for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Slavery, Rape, Alcohol, Violence, War, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Physical abuse, Incest, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Pedophilia

The tags are a warning, there are a lot of dark topics. They are not the focus, but they do show up. Descriptions are sometimes detailed, but often vague and brief.

sav_22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Body horror, Incest, Misogyny, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Classism, Pedophilia, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Colonisation, Gore, Kidnapping, Addiction, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Death of parent

Moderate: Confinement, Torture, Drug use, Slavery, Rape, Misogyny, Trafficking, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Xenophobia, Abortion, Vomit, Police brutality, Cannibalism, and War

zeppelinnyx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

3.93

Quality of Writing: 8/10
Pacing: 9/10
Plot Development: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Enjoyability: 3/10
Ease of Reading: 7/10
Ending: 8/10

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, War, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Alcohol, Classism, Fatphobia, Grief, Torture, Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Incest, Rape, and Sexism