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notsogreen'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? No
5.0
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and War
kinsportch'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Slavery, and Trafficking
Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Cursing, and Misogyny
sooreads'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? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, and Torture
Minor: Death
readwithde'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? It's complicated
4.75
This group of characters seem rare to me; they aren't heroes or even fighting for their own survival, but they are survivors. It's refreshing to have morally grey characters, to have greedy and selfish characters, to have a life of riches and luxury and freedom be the goal and reward. It honestly felt like a well-played D&D game with lots of pitfalls and personal stakes.
There are so many obstacles and villains in the story; it's fun to watch them choose, to prioritize what the biggest threat is, and knowing that it is different for each of them for their own reasons. The constant shuffle of plans and priorities adds extra tension that keeps the midsection of the book relevant and interesting.
My only complaint is the preface; it tries to do too much. A shorter, more focused POV would help set the stage, theme, and mood much better, especially as most of the information is repeated in the first few chapters. Despite that misstep, this is a fun read with hidden depth and very real, human characters.
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Confinement, and Grief
Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Addiction
allthewords's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Alcohol, Animal death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Torture, and War
laurenn'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
5.0
Moderate: Drug use and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Death of parent, Sexual violence, and Trafficking
cleo_wylde'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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, and Violence
margueritestjust'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? No
5.0
I love the world and setting - some of my favorite stories have characters that are so much a part of their world that they can't be taken out of that world and put somewhere else and still be the same. The world and the characters very much play off of each other - each character is a product of their environment. Though Kaz is technically not a "bastard of the Barrel", he may as well be, because that is the world that shaped him, and it comes through in the way that he dresses, the way that he speaks, the way that he's created a myth around himself. Each of the main crew is similarly part of the setting and their own character at the same time.
One of the things that Bardugo does really well is to reveal information in portions and only when it's necessary. We learn of these characters' pasts as their relationships, fears, and goals are talked about in the present, and it's the restraint of a writer who knows to only give the necessary information at the necessary time. Obstensibly, this book is about a heist, but the book is really about the characters - the plot drives the character work at the end of the day. That being said, Bardugo was still delivering flashback exposition during the actual heist, and perhaps it was just me being impatient but I felt that it was information that could have been truly covered earlier - and then left the heist completely running on its own time. Everything was going poorly enough for our main characters that I needed to know about them in the present, not them in the past lol.
The book does raise a lot of questions about what is going to happen in the next, and while there are some obvious ones and clear threads that will have to be picked up (
I love all of the main crew dearly except for Matthias. He's still on thin ice. (Unintended pun.) However, Inej my beloved <3
In all seriousness, I had a really hard time getting into the Helnik romance.
All of my reviews turn out to be unreasonably long, so I'll just say this to wrap up. It's a book that I genuinely could not put down. I read most of it within one night, and I found that reading along with atmospheric white noise really added to my experience as well, which is something new that I've discovered and I can't wait to use that for the next book that I read as well. I adored this book, I think it's lovingly crafted from start to finish. Definitely deserves the hype that it gets.
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Blood, and Child death
Minor: Excrement
Lots of death - often by gun or knife, but it does have the death of animals and describes three bodies that have been burned to death. There is some description of an eyeball that gets a bit gory.kathkas'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? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Violence
Minor: Animal death
may_b'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
5.0
Graphic: Addiction and Mental illness
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gore, and Trafficking
Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Death, Murder, Slavery, Blood, Cursing, Gun violence, Ableism, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Misogyny