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amsu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I loved the narration style, the way you have to go along with it to piece together the story, the quest is fun, the world building amazing.... I highly recommend this book.
A few things I have to mention for everyone wanting to read this book:
It is an amazing quest story, with great characters, but this book is a very hard and heavy read. The characters in this book suffer a lot and also take very questionable actions themselves. I would recommend reading the trigger warnings, as this book contains very graphic and gory violence (of all sorts).
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Slavery, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Homophobia and Cannibalism
Minor: War, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Toxic friendship
The main character of this book, has a very strongly negative and judgmental opinion of women, which becomes clear whenever he interacts with any of the female characters that pop up in the story. That was, in the beginning very hard to read, as I wasn't sure if it was a case of a male author writing female character or if it was just the depiction of that specific character. It becomes clear in the story though, that it is in fact the second of these options, as the characters opinion is questioned and critiqued several times during the course of the book .trippalli's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Kidnapping, Racism, Violence, Bullying, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Infertility, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Animal death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Confinement, Grief, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
betamagnificus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, War, Torture, Violence, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Murder, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Sexual content
thenymphsvoice's review
- 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
4.0
However that’s not a bad thing. BLRW is a wild ride, I found the characters compelling, funny, sad, rage inducing.
This story was not afraid to deal with harsh realities even if this is a fantasy.
Trackers life is disjointed and many times dehumanizing. They struggle to understand themselves and their world, as it often changes with the snap of a finger around them.
They adapt they hurt, they grow or don’t in the perfectly imperfect way people do.
What I would say to anyone going into reading this is, prepare yourself to not always understand what is happening. That is a reflection of the characters confusion of events and the way their life has been broken by the traumas they have and do endure. (At least that’s how it read to me.)
The mystery and journey is second to me to the journey that Tracker is on in their own head. Invest in Trackers experience.
Also… if you can think of it Trigger/Content Warning. It’s in this book. Be prepared.
Graphic: Abandonment, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Grief, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gore, Murder, Torture, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Violence, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, and War
Just like all the things, this book is not for the faint of heart or easily triggered.cyngharris's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Violence, War, Vomit, Slavery, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Murder, Body horror, Death, Cursing, Cannibalism, Excrement, Blood, Rape, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Confinement
vedpears's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Abundant run on sentences took some getting used to, but I managed to navigate that just fine.
I enjoyed how the story was written in such a way that it was like viewing a large photo by zooming in, then zooming out a bit, zooming in somewhere nearby, zooming out again until the whole picture is revealed.
What I did not enjoy was the overwhelming number of elements that would warrant trigger warnings: sex, rape, child abuse, pedophilia, slavery, bodily harm, mutilation, murder, combinations of all of those at once with a gratuitous serving of explicit language.
The overarching story is intriguing. The characters and concepts borrowed from African history and mythology were woven in very well. If this were written to be less corrosive on the psyche, I would have rated it higher.
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Cursing, Gore, Misogyny, Vomit, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Ableism, Addiction, Slavery, Stalking, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Excrement, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia
It basically has all the trigger warnings, including infanticide.econsidine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
NOTE THAT THERE IS A LOT OF HEAVY/DARK MATERIAL AND IMAGERY. I've tagged everything I can possibly think of below but have likely missed something. If you do not want to read something that involves any of the usual suspects of what people consider "dark" or "gory" or "messed up," then this is not for you. It's not a horror book, but it is often disturbing. And even for me—someone who loves fictional horror and grotesque shit and frequently reads books about cannibalism for fun—this one is a lot to get through and had me physically flinching at some moments while reading. It didn't read like it was just for shock value, as weird as that may sound, but the tone of the narrator through the whole book is very matter-of-fact, so many disturbing events are described in full detail but without much direct inflection/editorializing.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual content, Body horror, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Sexism, War, Blood, Death of parent, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury
mgraceoliver's review against another edition
Minor: Sexual content, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Child death, Animal death, Excrement, Gore, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, and Rape
elizaahhh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Sexual violence, Child death, Body horror, Animal death, Sexual assault, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
dananator13's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Trafficking, Violence, Torture, Body horror, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Death, Slavery, Sexual assault, Rape, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Blood