Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

23 reviews

rikuson1's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • 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

4.5

I Really Liked It 😊
-★★★★✮- (4.50/5.00)
My Grading Letter Score = 90% (A)

When I finished The Well of Ascension, the first words that came out of my mouth were "simply incredible." But at first the pacing of this book at the start, I completely understand why some people would consider this weaker than The Final Empire if we are discussing overall pacing because The Well of Ascension was constantly going from slow to fast to slower to faster. For me, I'm not really someone who heavily focuses on pacing if what is being provided to me is engaging and if it's building up to something that is paid off when it's due, which this book mostly everyone agrees it does just that. So, regarding pacing consistency, sure, you can go ahead and give The Final Empire the upper hand when it comes to that. But honestly, outside of that, I most definitely feel like The Well of Ascension is tied with The Final Empire in almost every other criteria, and/or The Well of Ascension did it better.

The two categories I feel The Well of Ascension did better were characterization and character development. Every single character that was focused on in The Well of Ascension, for the most part, felt like they were given the time they needed to be fleshed out enough to be commended at least above what the characterization execution was provided to us in The Final Empire and goes for the development they went through in this book. World-building, Lore, Action, and Prose are all categories that can be debated which one did it better. I don't really care since I enjoyed all of these things in both of these books. 


Verdict
At first, I was Team Final Empire, until around Chapter 47 when my favorite fight scene in the series so far occurred did I start to lean over to Team Well of Ascension, after that the pacing slowed back down and then I started to lean back over to The Final Empire and then the last fifty pages of this book leveled me out. It brought me to the conclusion of thinking that I like both of these books equally critically, to be honest. If I was held at gunpoint and forced to choose one over the other, I might say The Well of Ascension, since the hype of just finishing it is still on me and I love great characterization which this book gave me a whole lot of. But I love both of these books equally and I'm glad I did not come out of it thinking less of it in comparison to its predecessor, a successor should be as good or better than what came before it and I feel The Well of Ascension accomplished just that. So regardless of what the majority of people state or what the rating score in comparison says about this book. 

I Really Liked It.

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tilo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am unsure if I have ever experienced a book like this one, where with every new chapter a new information is dropped that almost always completely twists one of the many exciting narratives. From the first page on, I was surprised and as it kept going I could not fathom all the plottwists coming. And none of them seemed over the top nor misplaced, as the world, its history and its characters, whom I am attached to deeply now, are so well construed that it read so fluently.
Not to mention, the amazing and captivating writing style!
Due to the ending, I am both extremely curious and mortified to find out what is waiting in Book Three.

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blythemind's review

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

4.5


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nflamel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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insomniacsun's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Devo ammettere che ho fatto fatica a iniziare questo secondo volume dopo la drammatica conclusione del precedente
che direbbi la morte di Kelsier mi ha sviscerato mi ci è voluto il dovuto tempo per processare il lutto
 
Mi è piaciuta l'incorporazione della tensione dell'aspetto politico della storia, conciliata all'adrenalina del campo di battaglia: chapeau di nuovo Sanderson, non ci si annoia mai con te.
La relazione fra Vin ed Elend ci ha messo un po' a farsi spazio nel mio cuore, ma più tardi mi sono resa conto che avevo a che fare con un rapporto di codipendenza intensa: che dire, all'immagine di questi poveri ragazzi aggrappati disperatamente l'uno all'altro come unica ancora di salvezza in un mondo che sta letteralmente crollando intorno a loro mi ha decisamente conquistato di più. Detto questo, non so perchè mi aspettassi qualcosa di sano da loro due: sono personaggi di natura opposta costretti a crescere in direzione opposta. Che bel melange.
Parlando di cose malsane: Zane 
Venture
. Che personaggio. 
Perso per sempre ma mai dimenticato.
La sua imprevedibilità sia al lettore che ai personaggi lo ha reso un antagonista intrigante e coinvolgente. 
Spero disperatamente nel suo ritorno, basandomi su delusioni personali quali la comunicazione diretta che aveva con The Ruin... signor The Ruin lo resusciti e gli faccia scatenare più caos por favor...solo per me....
 
KANDRA LORE KANDRA LORE KANDRA LORE e confido nel prossimo volume per saziare questa crescente fame di sapere, ma soprattutto mi aspetto più informazioni sugli inquisitori, SPECIALMENTE dopo l'ultimo capitolo con Marsh. Pover uomo. 
Perde il fratello per una causa originariamente sua e ora perde la testa per la stessa causa.
 
Ho adorato i capitoli dal punto di vista di Breeze, ma devo dire che la carenza di Dockson si è sentita. 
La sua morte ha avuto il suo dovuto impatto, ma sarebbe stata più struggente se la sua presenza nei fatti precedenti non fosse stata così effimera.
  Alla fine era facilmente incorporabile qualche input in più da responsabile amministrativo di una città allo sbaraglio, o semplicemente dal più stretto amico di Kelsier 
specialmente sulla nascita della Church of the Survivor
. Peccato, sarebbe stato molto interessante, soprattutto per l'importanza delle sua conversazione con Vin sulla sua permanente ostilità verso la nobiltà di Luthadel. 
Sazed, Sazed, Sazed... glorioso personaggio fin dal primo libro. Dopo le tragedie degli ultimi capitoli in questo volume, voglio proprio vedere come andrà avanti dopo l'impatto delle conseguenze delle sue azioni, oltre a quelle immediate visibili già in questo volume. 
Come sempre, una nota positiva sulle frasi di inizio capitolo che rendono l'esperienza di lettura molto più immersiva e coinvolgente: chiamatemi detective per le indagini fatte su quelle parole mistiche, signori.

Posso solo aggiungere che il terzo e ultimo volume è già sul comodino. Spero solo che la conclusione della trilogia sia all'altezza della storia costruita finora. Continua a deliziarmi, Sanderson. Conto su di te.

-------------------
Edit 22/05: Dopo aver riletto il primo volume mi sono sentita in dovere di abbassare il voto, particolarmente per come si sono perse le relazioni di Vin con gli altri membri del gruppo. Comprendo che la sua relazione con Elend e la definizione di principi suoi sia il fulcro di questo volume, ma non è detto che debbano essere esclusivi. Che il lutto per Kelsier abbia avuto il suo peso sulle relazioni varie, capisco, ma ridurre significativamente il rapporto di Vin con Dox, Ham e Breeze mi ha lasciato un po' perplessa, soprattutto quando i primi capitoli sono partiti così bene nel mantenere il legame fra loro.

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giulianalb99's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

No le doy 5 estrellas porque el primer libro me gustó más. Aún así, me ha parecido una pasada de libro y no puedo esperar más a leerme el tercero. Me encanta este autor y lo poco que me he leído de él me ha hecho ser su fan incondicional. 

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januaryt123's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • 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


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angstifies's review against another edition

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

4.75

i will admit i wasn’t the biggest fan of book one so i’m being 100% serious when i say i wasn’t expecting to enjoy this one as much as i did. 

fantastic sequel, the themes in here were much more interesting to me than those of book one (probably why i liked it better) and i could definitely tell Sanderson’s writing got much better here, especially when it comes to writing his characters, even if i do wish we got to see more of some characters who were basically neglected (Clubs, DOX???). 

i love love love the politics and the whole mystery revolving around the mists and the well of ascension was really engaging, this world is so so interesting. and that ENDING. cannot wait to read the sequel!!

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lilifane's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • 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

I LOVED IT SO SO MUCH IT'S EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST BOOK! 

I want to scream because I have so many thoughts and feelings and I can't explain them because of spoilers.

I'm just impressed. This is probably the most perfect second book I've ever read? It is the logical continuation of book one. And yes, it prepares the characters for and leads the plot to the third book. But it has a very interesting and well crafted plot on its own, with a satisfying finale. 

After finishing The Final Empire, you just don't know what to expect. But the themes explored in this book make you realize how much there still is to consider. Yeah, defeating a villain is hard, but maybe taking over and making life better is even harder? Love the detailed look at the aftermath of a revolution, the changes the characters went through but still have to go through more, the obstacles no one had considered. The character development is phenomenal. Is it fun/easy to read about the struggles and mistakes of the characters? No. But it's so believable and realistic. Wow. 

It is also maybe one of my favorite takes on the chosen one trope. And I love love loooove how much books, reading and research are part of the plot. It's my third book by Sanderson and all three have this in common. Characters that love reading and are passionate about doing research. And you as a reader can do it alongside them and even get rewarded for it. It's one of my favorite things in the world. 

I'm SO excited for book 3 now. 

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mandaraffe's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5


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