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idksamiguess's review
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: War and Animal death
mariediane016's review
adventurous
funny
fast-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
5.0
My favourite read of the year so far by a long shot. A quest-dtoven fantasy adventure with a good dose of humour. Quite dark at times, but not gratuitously grim like so much of modern fantasy. Works well as a standalone, but it seems like the author is also working on a sequel. Highly recommended for fans of Joe Abercrombie and Dungeons and Dragons!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
Moderate: War, Vomit, and Violence
Minor: Body horror and Animal cruelty
knownothing's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
emmyanne's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-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
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but it is definitely not for everyone. The language is vulgar and graphic, but it's weirdly a refreshing change from very wholesome fantasy characters that are popular right now. Kinch is, in a word, problematic, but he himself will be the first to admit that. There is something genuine and endearing about his roguish bravado and the narration is fun if you can get past how gross it is. The magic system was very interesting and unique, which always scores some extra points for me. I love when the magic exists as an art instead of merely a plot device to force you to suspend disbelief and patch up plot holes and Buehlman does a great job with this. Much of the world-building occurred through asides in Kinch's stream of consciousness, which sometimes pulled the pacing to a lull because all action would stop as he explained bits of history or linguistics. As an explorer of this new world, I loved the richness of the information but it resulted in the age-old problem of "telling" rather than "showing." Again, I liked Kinch's perspective, but the downfall of a single first person perspective is that all of the other characters must be viewed only through the lens of that character's experience. I would have loved to get to know Galva and Norrigal just a little bit better. Finally, my biggest issue with the book is that I found the larger plot too predictable, but the journey was fun so that made up for not having any real jaw-dropping plot twists and turns. All-in-all a good read and glad I got to experience it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Vulgar languagezone_a3's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Violence, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail
novelideea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Cursing
mackenzi's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault and Child death
boglord's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, War, Violence, Torture, Body horror, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Vomit, Cursing, Trafficking, Confinement, Blood, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, and Infertility
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Grief, Genocide, Fatphobia, Excrement, and Sexual violence
little102red's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Fatphobia and Sexual violence
kjulie's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I enjoyed this! I was a bit hesitant about it at first, since I haven’t really been reading much fantasy lately, and I was worried I was going to discover that my tastes had changed more than I thought… but I had nothing to fear, this was a lot of “fun” (I hesitate using the word as there are lots of really horrible things that happen in this book… but as a whole, it was entertaining and “lighthearted”). I really appreciated that the author took the opportunity (often) to joke around and show that this wasn’t a story to be taken too seriously.
Thank you to Goodreads and the publisher for a complimentary advanced copy.
Thank you to Goodreads and the publisher for a complimentary advanced copy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence