Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Die Lügen des Locke Lamora: Roman by Scott Lynch

22 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.

arcticjinx's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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 is my favorite book. That said, I can't stand here and tell you it is flawless. As some other reviews have stated, there is a distinct lack of characters that are both women and are either alive or have any agency, despite the author making it clear that the devilish underground of Camorr is very evenly split among genders. The main cast is loveable, and in my opinion, believably flawed. I won't say their luck isn't a bit unbelievable, but I suppose that when you have the god of thieves on your side, anything is possible. I would recommend this to people who enjoy worldbuilding, lengthy descriptions of clothing, heists, being sad, alchemy, and a sprinkle of magic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pedophilia

kitteh's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.5

The world of the book is unique, layering an old-world fantasy setting over some truly sci-fi technology and architecture. Practically all of the main characters are male, which isn’t usually my cup of tea. But the psychological aspects of the book were intriguing and I ended up really loving Locke and his team.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Police brutality, and Murder

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

zerto's review against another edition

It was a bit too violent and vulgar for me. The flashback chapters were annoying and confusing. I don’t mind morally gray characters, but I couldn’t sympathize with any of the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Slavery

Nazca’s dead body in a barrel of horse piss was horrific

gandalf_a's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

karbolak's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment

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

literarybitch's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

We love a gentleman bastard, a dashing rogue doing heists and dodging the law! That said, this goes to some very dark places, so fair warning: it starts out with a guy selling orphans, that's a rough place to begin.
I enjoyed myself throughout this one and I have no major complaints. The various nobles' names were hard to tell apart when they were all together in the thick of it, but I was so far in that I decided not to care and it didn't diminish my overall understanding.

Comparisons between this and The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn are obvious: they're both quite lengthy, vaguely Rennaissance-era fantasy heists starring a clever antihero and his bestie(s). Between the two, I find Ardor Benn much more fun so if you only have room in your life for one, I recommend that one. But if you don't mind the darker and sadder tones of this One Last Job gone sideways and can't get enough debonair con men, this gets the job done.

7.5/10
#WhatsKenyaReading

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Death

Minor: Slavery and Death of parent