Reviews

City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett

hoila's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

coreysees's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.25

A surprisingly good sequel to City of Stairs. It feels like it was much darker than Stairs, but that might partially be me forgetting how dark book 1 actually was. The change in main character was startling, but very well done. The book did a good job focusing on some of the darker aspects of the military without going full-grimdark.

live_2_read's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• 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

4.5

scarbaur's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

marieeve1978's review against another edition

5.0

This series in fantastically well written.

toastandhoes's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny sad fast-paced

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

4.0

caseysw's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

nina90's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

stelhan's review against another edition

3.0

Strong 3.5 stars. Improved upon the first book and I enjoyed it a lot

erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

Wow. City of Stairs was excellent and when I started reading this one I was sad that Shara wasn’t the main character. But as I got into it, I saw why Mulaghesh is the only choice for a protagonist for this one and I learned to love her even more as a protagonist than as a secondary character. What a masterful story told in such a rich, detailed world. The characters, as in the first book, are all very believable and even if I don’t completely understand how some of the miracles and Divine events work, I was completely engrossed and invested in the unraveling of the mystery. I can’t wait to read the final book in the trilogy. 

Read if you like mystery plot lines set in richly built-out fantasy worlds.