Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

The Blacksmith Queen by G.A. Aiken

3 reviews

halem13's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

wilybooklover's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

3.5

I always know what I’m getting when I pick up a Shelly Laurenston/G.A. Aiken book: a strong heroine (with the shoulders to match), a hero who appreciates that strength, a wacky sense of humour, cartoonish violence, borderline crazy characters, and bickering siblings. 

The romance here was very low-key. It felt more incidental than an integral part to the story and I wish it had been a bit more prominent. But I did like how steady and easy it was — you won’t find a lot of romantic drama here. 

I enjoyed the fantasy plot and I am very interested to see where it goes in future. It’s not breaking new ground or anything, but it was entertaining and I loved seeing the weird and wonderful characters Aiken came up with. The dwarves were hilarious! The constant head-hopping did get a bit tiring after a while, but that’s also a signature of this author. 

This is an ongoing series and while it didn't end on a cliffhanger, the story isn't fully resolved at the end. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sarah984's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

This is a very weird book because the summary sounds great! If you describe what is happening to someone else as you're reading, it sounds really cool! 

But the book is not good.

None of the characters (except for the villain a bit, I won't spoil who it is but if you can't see the "twist" coming from about page 3 I question if you've ever read a book before) have distinct personalities. They all speak in vaguely Whedon style "quips" with a bunch of misogynistic language piled on for no reason. Characters claim to have specific beliefs but act counter to them all the time (eg. Keeley saying she wants to respect everyone even if she can't understand them and then spending several pages ranting about a religion she doesn't like), every sibling in this book is a hair-trigger for screaming matches or attempted murder no matter how important the things are that are happening around them, two characters are together for almost the whole book and somehow it's still insta love when it happens, and despite the apocalyptic sounding plot there are zero stakes. Everything always magically goes Keeley’s way so you're never worried about her.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...