Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

2 reviews

seanml's review against another edition

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

4.75

The Republic of Thieves caps off Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard sequence in the best of ways (currently). Yes, the sequel is curruently now at ten years in development, but the novels are all self-contained enough that I don't see it as too much of a problem with the series. The plot itself is very simple from the outside, but by the third book of the series, the audience is so accustomed to the characters and their traits that the joy of the book itself comes from these characters interacting. The relationship of two characters is the crux of this novel, and one that has been hinted at and built up for the past two books. The story switches between a fun current day plot and an engaging past narrative, both of which are equally as entertaining. Lynch deserves all the accolades for this one. 9.5/10.
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corvicore's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.0

 
well that was a little disappointing. i'm not really sure how to summarize my thoughts so here are some bullet points:

  •  
    Started off strong but what the FUCK was that twist and ending
  • Stuff that got set up and went nowhere:
    •  
      Locke’s near death experience and his conversation with Bug 
       
    •  
      Sabetha feeling unheard by the rest of the team and disliking Locke stepping up as leader 
       
    •  
      Jean. like all of him. He was sidelined so hard and for why
       
    •  
      ezri :( her death feels meaningless
       
    •  
      regal??? Why? The fuck? Did you take away my one joy and love ? like ugh this is part of a wider issue i have with the series where it feels like jean and locke are never allowed to grow their gang and whenever they do the plot forcibly isolates them (calo/galdo bug getting offed in the first book, ezri getting offed in the second book, regal being completely ignored at the start of the third and sabetha leaving at the end) 
       
      •  
        It’s one thing to create an episodic series with a status quo and it’s another thing to ignore the logical conclusion to these character arcs
         
  •  
    I wish I liked sabetha better. Five year game beth was the classic (overdone) femme fatale and teenage sabetha was an unlikable bitch.
     
    •  
      I get that the theater story is about the gentlemen bastards being awful teenagers who need to stop being awful teenagers but it doesn’t work with sabetha because we don’t have any prior first impressions of her. With Locke Jean and the twins we got to know them in the first book so we’re more forgiving of their assholery; of course they’re being dicks, they’re teens! We know that they’ll mellow out into the characters that we love. We don’t have any of that prior experience with Sabetha, so her cruelty is less forgivable. And to make matters worse, her adult version is flatter than a wooden board so it’s not like I can even look forward to her present interactions with Locke. SPEAKING OF LOCKE
       
  •  
    Why. just. 
     
  •  
    why?
     
  •  
    The reason why I liked Locke so much was because he was a nobody, a nameless Catchfire orphan who stole his way into a better life. This whole Lamor Acanthus thing kind of ruins that for me. I’m sick of chosen ones. I’m sick of magical drama. Just give me a plain old bastard with some plain old bastardly plans and im happy. 
     
  •  
    Politics are too fucking boring man. I wish there was more espionage and roguery
     
  •  
    I did like seeing calo and galdo again! Miss those two </3
  •  
    what was up with the weird ass night-skinned stuff this book? last book had people of colour in it and it wasn't a big deal, it feels immersion breaking. on top of that, are we not going to talk about how the theatre plot line was resolved by framing a black man for murder? like hi how did that get into print. 
     

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