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lashette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Misogyny, Blood, Violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Trafficking, Sexism, Death, Classism, Animal death, and Ableism
loganjana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Misogyny, Torture, Classism, Violence, Ableism, Gore, and Sexism
Minor: Slavery and Physical abuse
mikariah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Because the thing that really sells this book for me is the characters.
And I can accept a LOT if the characters are great, which I believe that these are. Now, I'm a little biased because 'just-a-little-too-fucked-up' is exactly how I like my characters in the morning. Exactly. They are all problematic faves. Even the least terrible of them have some mess they're going through, and it sucked me in, which is good because there is not much plot to speak of. Yet.
The prose is straightforward and practical. Perhaps a little too much at times, and I wished there was less psychological distancing in the flow, but overall it read quickly and painlessly.
As a side note: the content warnings aren't necessarily expressing some sort of validation within the text. The characters are just... well, they have problems. And they experience problems.
Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Ableism, and Classism
Minor: Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Rape, Slavery, Vomit, War, and Xenophobia
netflixismyroommate's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Fatphobia, Blood, Sexism, Classism, Torture, Gore, Ableism, War, Misogyny, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Slavery, Genocide, Mental illness, Colonisation, and Cannibalism
Minor: Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
arian_dragonelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Torture, Death, Gore, Murder, Classism, Blood, Cursing, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child death
Minor: Physical abuse
strawberrypinch'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
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Torture, Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Cursing
Minor: Child death, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Trafficking, Colonisation, Cursing, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, War, Xenophobia, Confinement, Death, Excrement, and Vomit
mmefish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
- Glokta and his crew. Terrific.
- How insufferable Jezal is.
- Very accurate portrayal of one's personal struggles.
- Humour.
- There's only 2 female characters (neither is a main character), both with minimal development.
- Too much "sucking on gums".
- The book is at least slightly racist. The only slaves we see (so far) are black, the southerns portrayed as savages, and one of the (few) characters with dark skin behaves like an animal. She literally hisses, wants nothing but to kill, jumps on tables to claw someone for no particular reason, described as to smell like piss, etc. She was a slave, not raised by wolves. Really unnecessary.
- Taking in consideration that it was written in 2006, reading multiple times that someone (a man) "fought/shrieked/cried/behaved like a girl/woman" was still a bit frustrating.
- Overexplanation. For example:
[Someone is getting whipped] Ferro twitched and winced at the sound, and her back began to tingle.
Where the scars were.
Almost as if she'd been whipped herself.
Dewy old eyes peered up and down. "Yes?"
"Inquisitor Glokta."
"Ah, from the Arch Lector?"
Glokta frowned, surprised. "Yes, that's right." They cannot be half so cut off from the world as they appear. He seems to know who I am.
Either way, I kinda see where this is going, and I can't say I like it. Plot is definitely the weakest thing about "The Blade Itself".
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Murder, Classism, Racism, Torture, and Misogyny
Moderate: Gore, Animal death, and Slavery
lidia138's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Classism, Dysphoria, Slavery, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Violence
bookbelle5_17's review
- 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
By: Joe Abercrombie
I’m new to Grim Dark fantasy and I loved this one. There are two sides, Northerners and Southerners, who are war with each other the once the new king Bethod has inherited the throne from his father. We have a handful of main characters who are brought together by the first Magi Bayaz and he has plans for these people who has brought together. Logen “Ninefingers’ is known as the “Bloody Nine” and is trying to run from his violent past, but it’s about to catch up to him. Jezal dan Luthar is arrogant and selfish made a captain in the army just because of his status. He desires glory and accolades, but will his ego be enough for him to be a good soldier. Glokta, the inquisitor can only find pleasure in doing the dirty of government, rooting out traitors, but his faith in his work is shaken and he starts question things.
The threat of war is a shadow looming over the characters as they go about with their lives. A slow building of tension happens throughout the novel though the characters are unaware and just want to meet their personal goals. The hatred between the Northerners and Southerners provides a look at prejudice. Both go by their narrow-minded beliefs The narrative spends most of the time having the reader learn about the main. We go back and forth between Logen, Jezal, and Glokta seeing how each think and what they’re experiencing. I enjoyed Glokta and Logen’s parts the best, especially since it is hard being in the head of Jezal. He is just such an ass believing he is so much better than everyone else. Glokta follows orders, but what he thinks is the opposite. He’s sarcastic and mocking of everyone but keeps to himself. I’m curious as to what lead to him getting to him losing all his teeth and why his leg was injured. The writing is blunt and doesn’t shy away from the gory details. It is very graphic with Glokta’s torture scenes and the fencing scenes with Jezal. Even though, I didn’t like being in Jezal’s head the fencing scenes were cool. Bayaz creates an intriguing dynamic, because I feel like you don’t know if he has good intentions. I don’t know if I trust him, but he’s charming. He’s also a character that you can sense is dangerous.
Graphic: Classism, Misogyny, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Domestic abuse
thebookishdesigner'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
4.0
The Blade Itself was my first taste of Lord Grimdark. Having seen The First Law cited as the series you need to read if you loved Game of Thrones I thought it was going to be one for me, and although in some ways it wasn’t what I was expecting I still really enjoyed it.
The plot of the book is full of intrigue and conspiracy. It’s defiantly a page turner. The only thing that I wanted more of from this book was the violence. There was some grim fighting, but most of the sword play was fencing so there was little risk involved in these scenes. I was really in the mood for something with a lot of fighting, a lot war, and a lot of blood. Whilst I think it will be delivered in the next books it was missing here. Chapter 42 - The Bloody Nine, was an absolute standout in this book and was exactly what I was hoping for in this regard.
As good as the plot was it’s characters that make this book. Even the characters who you’re meant to dislike, you can’t help loving because of how well written every single one of them is. Logen and Glokta in particular are some of the best characters I’ve been introduced to in a very long time.
It it worth nothing that while I read this I also listened to the audiobook narrated by Steven Pacey. What a fantastic job he did! Pacey really brought the characters to life, I don’t think they could have picked a more perfect narrator for this series. As I continue on I will defiantly be listening to the audio as I read the physical edition too.
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Classism
Minor: Slavery and War