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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
midnightrose_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This first book is incredibly character and world-building focused. Wildly funny at times as well. Can’t wait to continue on with the series!
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cursing, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Death, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, and Child abuse
jakeulbrich's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cannibalism
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
ratat0sk42'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
It has smooth and easy to read prose, and lots of style with a surprisingly funny edge to its narration. Every single character has depth and motivations that make you unsure if they're the good guy or the bad guy at any given moment.
One thing some people may take issue with us that the book doesn't really have much of a plot in the traditional sense, not much actually happens but I found the characters tso engrossing I didn't mind at all.
Another thing of note is that the book is part of the First Law trilogy, which is less three stories that fit together than one big story cut into thirds, as such it doesn't really end, it just flows into the next book. If you read this book, you're in for the long haul. it's a damn good though.
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Chronic illness, Violence, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, Colonisation, Body horror, Blood, Xenophobia, Trafficking, and Cannibalism
Minor: Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Grief
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
mattitanskane's review against another edition
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture and War
Minor: Sexism, Cursing, Slavery, Cannibalism, and Alcohol
marthadude's review
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Alcohol, War, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Sexism, Racism, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, Blood, Cursing, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Ableism, Vomit, Physical abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Animal death, Cannibalism, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Sexual content
the_one_krissy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The feeling I got from this book was that it was setting up the scene for something bigger, and that was pretty much it, although the audiobook seemed to last forever and a day (the narrator did an excellent job, though, so I can't say I minded all that much). It introduced the main characters, but didn't give them a whole lot to do (yet, I'm guessing). It did some world-building but still left me rather confused as to what's where and what it has got to do with anything. As a matter of fact, if the writing and dialogue hadn't been so engaging, I'd probably have been bored to tears at some point.
Fortunately, the prose was very good and I loved the dialogue. The characters... Glokta grew on me against my better judgment and Bayaz is interesting, but at this point Jezal is a whiny brat who deserves to get his ass kicked, Ferro is just plain crazy, and I'm indifferent about Logen. They're all pretty interesting folk, though, and I'm hopeful I'll grow to enjoy them more in the sequels.
Where was the female representation, though? Ardee and Ferro were the only women of any consequence in this book, and that is not saying a lot, because one of them is relegated to the role of Jezal's manipulative love interest only, and the other does not have anything else than fighting and revenge in her life. I'm hoping to see some improvement on this front, too.
Another thing that I wasn't all that enthused about were the fight scenes. Some people hate reading romance - I tend to space out and doze off when presented by a blow-by-blow account of a fight. I do not care, please just get on with it.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I believe that the series gets better like I've been told. I can see there's potential, plus I really did love the dialogue and Glokta's seething sarcasm.
Moderate: Torture and Violence
Minor: Cannibalism and Misogyny
coulro'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: Death, Blood, Violence, Gore, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Murder, Torture, War, Body horror, and Animal death