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little102red's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Fatphobia and Sexual violence
soozasaurus_rex's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
kjulie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Thank you to Goodreads and the publisher for a complimentary advanced copy.
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
nebulasaurus'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: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Cursing, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, War, and Vomit
catsy2022's review
- 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
4.0
I didn't even write my review before I returned the damn book... I really enjoyed this one, the writing was very digestible, the world was so richly developed and the characters were endearing.
This is my first book by this author but I've heard good things about Between Two Fires as well, which I also have.
Kinch na Shannack is a thief trained by the Takers' Guild but unable to pay them for the cost of training (kpop trainee company much), so now is indebted to them. One day he and his gang choose a mark, an Ispanthian soldier who surely and promptly knocks the shit out of them and spares Kinch. He is then tasked with going on the journey with the Spanth by the guild, with an assassin-adept sent to encourage him. Along the way they also pick up some other companions.
This was a really fast-paced book, NGL. Something is always happening and it doesn't exactly feel like a waste of pages. I felt like it did really serve to build more of the world and to develop the characters. In what could have been another generic fantasy novel, there are so many unique elements that drew me in.
In the backstory of this world, humanity has been at war with the goblins for literally decades. Some nations have an uneasy truce with the goblins, who tend to live underground in big warrens, yet also can take to the sea. They remind me a bit of what darkspawn came to be in Dragon Age. In the war, horses were almost completely massacred but mostly died to a sickness (which is a bit like mad cow disease AFAIK).
There are a few words here and there in the various languages and some helpful explanations of what accents sound like. There are tonnes of poems and songs and some mystery around the pantheon of gods.
I was reading this book alongside another one about a sneaky dude, so I did get a bit confused between the two, but this does stand out as its own thing. The comedian thief has almost been done to death but Kinch has such a rich perspective with his backstory and culture giving him a funny voice. I did like the small parts where characters react to him, especially when he laughs about something he's thinking of and they all look at him like he's insane.
I seriously loved the world building in this. The first few pages have a map, calendar and year cycle to give context to the passage of time. The magic system was so so interesting with several different sub-schools and capabilities.
Isn't that lucky? Some of the jokes didn't quite land for me and even though I like songs, we will never hear then despite the sheer number of them...
Still it seems this book will definitely scale up. I'm in for the sequel/s
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Torture and Vomit
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
emma_em's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I recommend this absolute bonkers journey to fans of Jay Kristoff, Terry Pratchett and Joe Abercrombie
Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, and Body horror
chilefry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Death, Blood, and War
thehappylittleelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
However! It’s not necessarily a bad thing. The voice of the main character is great, as is the humor. If you like a series of small stories with a very loose overarching plot with a mouthy main character, you’ll love this.
Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Gore
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
luckykosmos's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
(Especially Galva. So much more of Galva, please.)
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Cannibalism and War
unlikelyplaces's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Let’s start with the things I liked:
- The world building was really solid, it felt really well fleshed out and interesting
- I actually really enjoyed the plot overall, it was fast paced and kept me interested the whole way through and if it wasn’t for the negatives (which I’ll get to) I’d definitely want to be carrying on with this series
- The action scenes were really well written, exciting but clear
Now for the negatives…
- The characters… I am a very character driven reader and actually the snarky thief archetype are my favourite characters to read about however I found this main character just unbearably annoying and the rest of the characters were not really developed very well at all so there was just no one I felt attached to
- There were just a few things to do with the writing that really bothered me. Like it wasn’t too bad overall but the author does this thing where he feels the need to end every chapter with like a LINE like the equivalent of “everything changed when the fire nation attacked” *dun dun dunnnn* and also chucks the same type of lines in throughout the chapter as well just to really try to shock you. I don’t know why this bothered me so much, it was just so repetitive…
- I really hated the way this book portrays the female characters. It started with the mc constantly commenting on women’s appearances and what he would like to “do” with them and then it was like the mc was a man and all of the other characters were women that were underdeveloped and that the mc spends a lot of time ogling. And THEN the romance started and it was just cringey and at one point he describes a woman’s voice as “husky and fertile”… her voice… was fertile??… I’m not even sure what that’s trying to mean??
There is also a scene that deals with a sexual assault but I felt like the topic was not treated sensitively because the victim was a man which is not ok… - And then just a minor thing, it was marketed as like a dark fantasy/horror but like I didn’t find it that dark? Like it was a bit but not as much as I was expecting? Maybe I just have a high tolerance though.
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Sexism and Sexual assault