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ghost3_14159's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, and Death of parent
jadejoro'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? It's complicated
5.0
Three things to note:
1) This book is for adults. Every character, especially the lead, is a morally gray bundle of trauma and issues. If you need a relatively good guy to cheer for in order to enjoy a book, you will not find one here. Also, pretty much every adult content warning applies. (see below)
2) It's long. And I don't just mean word count (although yes, that's high). Part of Locke's survival skills is his ability to notice *everything*, so you as the reader will also be noticing everything. I personally found this abundance of details delightful, mainly because of Lynch's wonderful use of language. If you allow yourself to sink into the story, the slow pacing and highly descriptive language will leave you as familiar with Camorr as Locke himself by the end of the book.
3) As said above, it's slow. Lynch let's his characters tell the story, and a lot of them are no hurry whatsoever. You'll jump from the present to the childhoods of more than one character, learning about religion, politics, and history alongside our thieves in training. Slow though they be, not a single one of these side stories is a waste; in fact, several of them directly inform the present day story in the chapter immediately preceding or following it.
As for the actual plot of the book, I think the back cover blurb does the complex story few favors. Generally speaking, we have a group of thieves who steal mostly for the joy of it. They solely target the uber rich, breaking the "Secret Peace" maintained by Camorr's organized crime system. This makes Locke and his gang targets on all fronts -- the duke's Spider wants him caught, and the lower city's Capa would happily skin them alive if he knew what the Gentleman Bastards were up to. Despite the danger, Locke and his gang love their lifestyle. So, when a masked usurper puts both their lives and their livelihoods in danger, the Gentleman Bastards find themselves in a convoluted plot that mixes politics, revenge, pride, and greed.
I highly recommend this suave, riveting low fantasy adventure to anyone with the time and energy needed to appreciate it.
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fatphobia and Sexual content
ageckocalledachilles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
gandalf_a's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Medical content, Trafficking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
winterwoodbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
ekcd_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
davonysus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Vomit, and Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
al_dahart's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
randanopterix'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? It's complicated
5.0
It’s heists are genius in their construction, the characters are insanely loveable, the dialogue is realistic and hilarious, and the relationships built between the cast are surprisingly heartwarming. Now, if you think the stakes are high 100 pages in, friend, I hope you’re ready to be stressed as FUCK because the stakes only get higher and higher.
I’m obsessed with this book, not much more to say past that.
Tagging the rest of this review as spoilers as it’s pretty much going to include notes from my annotations:
• Jean Tannen is a murderous, sensitive, smart, fat king and I hope he lives to be 200 and the rest of his life full of happiness and joy.
• Locke is a terrible little rat of a man who I desperately want to be happy. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that, king.
• Calo and Galdo, real ones. Y’all didn’t deserve any of that.
• Bug absolutely fucking broke me. Heartbroken. The worst part was that I read up to Calo and Galdo’s death when I had to clock out from work. I had the whole ride home to be shattered about them and scheme about how Bug, Jean, and Locke were gonna take revenge before I finally got home to read the rest of the chapter….
• WHERE. IS. SABETHA.
• Bondsmagi OP, plz nerf /s
• Doña Vorchenza keeps taking those L’s.
• Let me preface this by saying that I LOVED the way women were written and portrayed in this book. Absolutely none of it was patronizing or unrealistic and they were all distinct characters capable of the same level of cunning and brutality as any of their male counterparts. THAT BEING SAID: Was a little disappointed that the two women characters who had potential to be a part of the main crew as it were (Nazca and Sabetha) were neatly folded up and put away for the majority of the novel. Hoping I get to know what the deal is w Sabetha in the next book because she didn’t even show up in the flashback portions of this one and it made her feel like she wasn’t even a part of the Bastards…
• The bank scene is genuinely one of the most insane, most clever, and most hilarious things I’ve ever read. POOR BENJAVIER.
• I was on the toilet during the scene where Locke speaks Bug’s true name and let me tell you, crying heartily about that while pooping was not my most dignified moment.
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Sexual content, Slavery, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Abandonment, War, and Classism
lotten4's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Genocide and Trafficking