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da3m0nic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Blood, Death, Torture, Physical abuse, Gore, Domestic abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Sexism, Confinement, Mental illness, and War
acogna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Slavery
ripxw's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and War
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Torture
Minor: Slavery
nerdkitten'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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Animal death, Alcohol, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexism, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Deportation, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Trafficking, Vomit, Xenophobia, Excrement, Fatphobia, War, and Body shaming
Minor: Slavery, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Grief, Police brutality, Child abuse, and Genocide
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
amir_hamza'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
3.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, and Cursing
freya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Colonisation, Torture, and Gore
Moderate: Death and Domestic abuse
surdiablo'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
4.0
With all that said, I have come to realize something very much to my surprise. Say one thing about SurDiablo, say he didn't give a damn about the bloody plot! It's a book where nothing mind-blowing happens for the most part and I still really enjoyed it from top to bottom. I loved pretty much all of the characters in this and even those I didn't love, like Ferro, I still really really enjoyed their pov. I loved being in their shoes, their dialogue, their interactions with each other, the mystery, and the ever-present bleakness, combined with the dry humor. This is one of those rare books where I never felt bored at any point whatsoever and was always so tempted to get back to reading immediately. The descriptions never overstayed their welcome and I found the overall story more than interesting enough, but what mainly drove my interest was obviously the characters themselves. I found myself wanting to continue reading just to see what would happen to them, not concerned about story advancement at all. Heck, I can confidently say that I could read Glokta playing chess with his practicals and talking about random stuff for 3 hours and I wouldn't be bored at all. Suffice to say he's also my favorite character, closely followed by Logen the 'Bloody' Ninefingers. I have never felt so invested in characters like this before, except in Wheel of Time but that was a 14-book series, while this is a trilogy where I have read only one book so far.
Another thing that caught me off-guard is how damn funny it was, regardless of being known as a major grimdark novel. It made me laugh several times, while not taking away the suspense or emotional impact. I cringed whenever
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Torture, and Gore
Minor: Cannibalism
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
eh1736's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism and Domestic abuse
Minor: Alcoholism