Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Die Lügen des Locke Lamora: Roman by Scott Lynch

9 reviews

orionmerlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Oh, Lies of Locke Lamora, you chaotic little bastard of a book. You lured me in with promises of a slick, clever heist, and then blindsided me with a full-course meal of torture, maiming, and casual murder. Somewhere between the Ocean’s Eleven vibes and the “let’s remove this guy’s fingers one by one” energy, I had to ask myself: Am I enjoying this? The answer? Mostly.  

📌 Characters - 8/10 

Locke Lamora is an arrogant, overconfident con artist with a talent for thinking on his feet—and a terrible survival instinct. His best friend and right-hand man, Jean Tannen, is the brains and brawn that holds the entire operation together, delivering some of the book’s most satisfying moments (and best beatdowns). Their ride-or-die friendship is easily the strongest relationship in the book. 

But the supporting cast? A mixed bag. The Sanza twins are entertaining but underdeveloped, Bug is mostly there to die tragically, and Capa Barsavi is a textbook example of a man who thinks he's in control when he absolutely isn’t. The Grey King and the Falconer make for decent villains, but their motivations are just functional—they work for the plot, but they don’t feel particularly deep. 

And then there’s the glaring gender imbalance. Nazca Barsavi, the one woman who seems like she’ll play a major role, is killed off before she even gets a chance to be interesting. Vorchenza, the aging spymaster, is a great late-game addition, but she only enters the story near the end. And Sabetha? She’s referenced endlessly as Locke’s biggest regret, but she never appears, making her feel more like a plot device than a person.  

📌 Atmosphere/Setting - 9/10 

Camorr is Venetian fantasy meets brutal crime syndicate, dripping with grime, danger, and Elderglass towers that gleam like ancient relics of a long-dead civilization. The city breathes. From the floating black market of the Night Market to the shark-infested waters where debts are settled, Camorr feels alive in a way that many fantasy settings struggle to achieve. 

That being said, Lynch sometimes falls into the Tolkien trap of describing everything in excruciating detail. The canals? Filthy. The nobles? Ridiculous. The torture? More detailed than it needed to be. At times, I felt like I was reading a guidebook instead of a novel.  

📌 Writing Style - 8/10 

Lynch’s prose is fast, witty, and loaded with personality—when it isn’t getting bogged down by its own indulgence. The dialogue crackles, and the humor genuinely lands, which is impressive given how dark the book gets. 

But the structure? A bit of a mess. The book constantly jumps between Locke’s past (flashbacks with Father Chains and the early days of the Gentleman Bastards) and the present-day heist. Sometimes, this adds depth. Other times, it kills momentum right when things get interesting. 

Also, every single plan Locke makes goes off without a hitch… until it suddenly explodes in the most catastrophic way possible. There’s no in-between.  

📌 Plot - 7/10 

The first half of the book delivers exactly what was promised: a high-stakes, well-crafted heist. Locke and his crew are conning Don Lorenzo Salvara and his wife Doña Sofia, posing as foreign merchants while stealing everything they can. It’s smart, it’s engaging, and it’s exactly what I wanted. 

And then the Grey King shows up, and suddenly it’s less about a heist and more about Locke and Jean trying to survive a city-wide bloodbath. 

Don’t get me wrong—the stakes escalate beautifully. But the shift from elaborate con artistry to full-scale revenge thriller is jarring. We go from charming deception to graphic torture scenes, and while that can work, the transition is too abrupt.

📌 Intrigue - 8/10 

Even with the pacing issues, this book is incredibly engaging. I wanted to see how Locke would weasel his way out of certain death this time. The elaborate scams, the double-crosses, and the sheer audacity of the Gentleman Bastards kept me hooked. 

That being said, the torture scenes killed my momentum. They’re long, brutal, and relentless, and they don’t add much beyond shock value. There were moments where I actively needed to put the book down.  

📌 Logic/Relationships - 5.5/10 

Locke’s scams are clever, but are they believable? Not really. He and his teenage friends are somehow running elite-level cons on the most powerful people in Camorr—and getting away with it. The idea that no one has caught onto them before now stretches credibility. 

Also, the worldbuilding is excellent, but the gender imbalance is impossible to ignore. The lack of women is especially frustrating because the world itself doesn’t seem to have any built-in sexism. There’s no reason why there shouldn’t be more women in the underworld, but for some reason, there just… aren’t.  

📌 Enjoyment - 7.5/10 

There’s a lot to love here, but also a lot that wore me down. The heists? Fantastic. The cons? Brilliant. The action? Tense and well-paced. But the sheer brutality of the violence and the abrupt tonal shifts made this a more exhausting read than I expected. 

I had fun, but I also needed a break.  

📌 Final Verdict: 3.75 Stars (7.5/10 Final Score) 

Is it a fun, immersive fantasy heist? Yes. Is it also way too violent for its own good? Also yes. 

📌 What Worked:
✅ Fantastic setting & worldbuilding
✅ Clever cons & strong banter
✅ Locke & Jean’s dynamic was fun 

📌 What Didn’t Work:
❌ Pacing whiplash (from fun heist to full horror movie)
❌ Over-the-top gore & torture scenes
❌ Glaring lack of gender diversity 

🔥 Final Take: If you love elaborate heists, fast-talking criminals, and don’t mind extreme violence, you’ll probably enjoy this. If you prefer a bit more balance, chaos, and female characters that exist, you might find it frustrating. Still a solid read, but not without issues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Excrement, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Classism

The violence is pervasive and often quite brutal, with detailed descriptions of torture and murder. The book features themes of grief, revenge, and childhood trauma, particularly in Locke's backstory and the ruthless nature of Camorr’s criminal underworld. While there is no sexual violence, misogyny is present within the world’s structures, and female characters are notably absent from the main story except for a single major one late in the book.

mamoru's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ageckocalledachilles's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

This book is really fun, and would have got 4*, but

I am of the personal opinion that authors who kill off the lovable cheeky urchin for an emotional reaction   deserve to suffer

and so points were deducted. Other than that a great romp through a well built world with complex lore, lovable characters and witty dialogue.

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Content Warnings

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

samsummers's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Torture, and Violence

winterwoodbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious slow-paced

• 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

This was just awesome from start to finish

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Content Warnings

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

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

seanml's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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? No

4.75

The Lies of Locke Lamora excels in every aspect that most modern fantasy novels strive to perfect. The setting is intricate and lived-in; there are details and systems in the setting that take time to fully understand, and the author doesn't inundate you with all the exposition you're going to need at the start of the book. Magic exists, but enough questions are answered that we don't have to ask: if so-and-so is possible, why haven't these societal problems been fixed by now? Lynch's plot is also one that is completely original. Our protagonist is one of the classic fantasy archetypes: the scoundrel, but beyond that the narrative is always shifting organically. There are no points where I'm aware of the plot structure; where the story is simply going through the motions. This is a fantastic entry in modern fantasy, and I can understand why it's so well renowned. 9.5/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Excrement, and Abandonment

vittorioseg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• 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

I honestly liked it. I didn't expect to do it and I think it was mostly because the narrator Michael Page was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. Be aware, that none of the characters can be considered heroes and the main point is between a bunch of selfish assholes against mass murderers. The world of Camorr is brutal, short and it doesn't forgive anybody. The moral of these characters (beside the core group) is reprehensible, but you get the idea that its part of the world, that is not made to be shocking but as a natural consequence of the type of world and level of technology the people live in. 

The plot were very well crafted, the story polished and the action tense and so very vivid. Its truly a heist story with mastermind against mastermind for the right of life and vengeance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

The story its has some strong white american misoginy on its background. I think only two female characters where not reduced in a sexual way or sexualized inapropiely and one of them was a 70 year old. Its not in your face and it seems at face value to be quite egalitarian, until your realize that 99% of the women presented are: dumb muscle, whore, seductress and/or tragic victim. But its not graphic and I think its mostly unseen by the author in his type of writing, like say Asimov (but without being a piece of shit in real life) or say Marvel directors. Besides that, it can be a little hard the sheer spike it gets into the dark side of murder, betrayal and torture that it get in the second half.

mscalls's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder