Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

27 reviews

valkyri_anna's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and War

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Sexual assault

garrettcz's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

Simply incredible. Mesmerizing storytelling. This book stole its way into my top ten books of all time. 

I laughed so much. I cried a couple times. I laughed so hard I cried a couple times. I loved every second. 

If you like the gritty, wildly lifelike, morally grey characters of The Blade Itself, this book is for you. 

If you like the unscrupulously incorrigible devilry of The Lies of Locke Lamora, this book is for you. 

If you liked the mystery as well as a wonderfully built out magical world that organically unfolds as the story progresses of The Black Company, this book is for you. 

If you like the banter and  camaraderie of The Riyria Revelations, this book is for you. 

Treat yourself. 

This author is now an instant-buy author for me. No hesitation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Alcohol, Bullying, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and War

Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Violence, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, War, Body horror, Classism, Alcohol, Blood, and Gore

Minor: Abandonment, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

violerwolf's review

adventurous funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I really wanted to like this book, so I gave it a shot despite the mixed reviews I'd seen. Unfortunately, this book is deeply mediocre. The book bills itself, through both the cover art and the summary, on the relationship between the thief main character and Galva, the griseled knight character. Their interactions end up being very limited and with little depth. The author repeats the same (very basic) worldbuilding facts over and over again, despite them having little relevance to the story, as if they expect the audience to not understand. The "realism" of the book is as gritty as an episode of Spongebob, humor and all. I must assume that the grittiness reviewers mention comes in the form of middle-school level jokes about literal shit and sex. I don't think any of these things are necessarily bad, but the reviews I've seen of this book have pitched it as something very concerned with the realities of a fantasy world, and the only reality the book is actually concerned with is the main character's horniness. What a shame, because I think a lot of the world building and the characters (specifically Galva) could've had fantastic depth and told an incredibly dynamic story. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. If you're looking for generic fantasy with a rogue that has the libido, charm, and humor of a pubescent teen, this may be for you.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Body shaming, Colonisation, Sexual content, Torture, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Cursing, Alcohol, Death, and Excrement

Minor: Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Misogyny, Animal death, Blood, and Sexism

Typical fantasy racism present throughout novel. One brief scene toward end of novel involving potential sexual assault, where

the main character makes a deal involving sex with another character. The sex isn't described, and whether it actually happened is ambiguous.

directorpurry's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, and Animal death

Moderate: Xenophobia, Racism, and War

emmalaya's review

adventurous dark funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing and War

Minor: Animal death and Slavery

stefievee's review

adventurous funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved the background lore of the universe this story unfolds in - though the constant introduction of new names and languages can be a bit tedious if you're not into that. I thought the main character was delightfully witty and sassy despite his morally grey background. I laughed audibly quite a few times. I did find their adventure started to feel a bit long maybe 60% of the way through but it wrapped up more quickly after that.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Trafficking, Alcoholism, Death, Violence, Vomit, and War

azrealz's review

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia

rachelunabridged's review

adventurous dark funny 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Murder, Alcohol, Gore, Blood, Death, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: War

inbigtreble's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This worldbuilding is incredible. The irreverent narrator hit my personal sweet spot, but I can see the potential to be grating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

booksnailbri's review

adventurous dark funny 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

5.0

The Blacktongue Thief is a worthy dark fantasy adventure with a super interesting cast of characters. I genuinely wanted to get to know each of them more.

It also has enough humor to balance the darker moments to see you through to the end, and it's a wild ride getting there! I'm ready for the sequel, and would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a dark yet high fantasy romp with a quirky bunch of characters and well-written world!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Murder, War, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Death

Minor: Animal death