Reviews

Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

morninglightmountain's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

pascalibrary's review against another edition

4.0

Not having read Sharp Ends and A Little Hatred, Best Served Cold is probably my favorite First Law book from Joe Abercrombie thus far. This was the only book besides The Heroes where none of the POVs made me groan when switched to. Unlike The Heroes, every character felt distinct to me. If references to names were largely removed, I feel like I could tell whose POV it was just by how they were speaking. No section of the book overstayed its welcome. Each "mission" ended just before it would have felt like it was dragging on. So unlike Red Country, and the main trilogy if im being honest, I didn't think the middle of the book suffered. I liked the ending because it didn't feel rushed to me. Many other endings feel like whirlwinds where everything ends in such a small space compared to the rest of the book. While the ending is still a shorter section, I felt like it was given the length it deserved.

One of the things I dont usually like in The First Law is that, despite being billed as gritty or even grimdark, the characters always feel immortal to me, unless the death happens to be in the last 50 pages. I never believe a character will die, and this is no different in Best Served Cold. When one character was supposedly killed, it was absolutely no surprise to me when they came back soon after. I even predicted the way they would come back. I also think the violence was a little over the top, although I am pretty sure Joe intended it to be that way.

Overall, a great book and, in my opinion, the best in The First Law series so far.

elgh97's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

toddgrotenhuis's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

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

kcirtap's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• 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

4.25

smurff's review against another edition

dark slow-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

thalifm's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

bekahgern's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

3.5
I didn't connect with this one the way I eventually did with The First Law trilogy...revenge plots aren't for me, I don't think. I prefer the political machinations of the trilogy. And I truly disliked almost every character in this book, compared to how I liked almost all the morally grey characters in First Law. They were truly grey characters, but the characters in this book were just dark and unlikeable. I liked Shivers to start because I liked him in the trilogy and I really didn't enjoy his character arc (character descent?). I really didn't like Monza, and she felt fairly flat as a character too. The only one I liked was Cosca (and Vitari to some extent). 

natenason's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

the ending really did it for me

kendylldrilling's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• 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

3.0