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atypicalley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
-Brent Weeks
-Patrick Rothfuss
-Bloodborne
-The Witcher
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing (though it gets a bit repetitive). I think the problem for me is, the author is using pieces of stories he loves without fully understanding why they worked in other instances.
We have a “novel in a novel” format, right? Straight out of Kingkiller chronicles, but with a less charming storyteller. But structurally, the time jumps are skipping the most interesting part of the story, and losing the sense of mystery that a time jump should build. I understood everything that’d happened between the 11 year time skip within a single chapter, with no mystery, no tension. But because we’d skipped the part where the love interest *became* the love interest, I also didn’t care.
We have a dark and gritty world, where all the women are overtly described and all the sex scenes begin or end with violence. Not for any particular *reason.* In fact, I’m of the opinion that the only sex scene that had any impact on the character and led to change happened when the MC was literally a child. It feels very Game of Thrones Season 1– aiming for shock and awe, ‘we can cuss on public television, we’re sooooo tough.” Oh, and also the horse dies. Because. It’s gotta be sad. But like… we never did any adventures with the horse? We’d literally just met the horse? Dark and gritty is all well and good— I knew what I was picking up. But that only works when there is some *opposite* to balance. Dark content is dark because it shows you the light first. Sadness is born of lost love. Pain is born of lost joy. But you only ever get the formers, and not the latters. So… I just didn’t care through most of the book. Probably would’ve DNF’d if I’d been reading physically.
The female characters are picked straight out of the Witcher. Hell, so is the main character. But the Maiden/Madonna/Whore complex is in fuuuuull glory over here, and it does get tedious.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
darialoana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Cursing, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death and Child abuse
bohboh's review against another edition
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
breezer'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gore, Torture, Blood, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
caspianabound'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Cursing and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Gore
Minor: Homophobia
straybutterfly'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
vilde_a'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Grief, and War
Minor: Bullying, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Outing, and Classism
kittybeemartin's review against another edition
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual violence
ashwyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
-1 star for the CRINGEY lines from Gabriel, a lot of Gabriel's character seeming to be ripped from Geralt's (the horse, the 'last' of his kind, the kid he picks up, etc...), and the subtle and weird misogyny (lots of rape and weirdly sexual ways female characters die, sexual violence, the way women are talked about and insulted), etc...)
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder
faehistory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Some of the bigger twists you can perhaps see coming if you have read a lot of fantasy because they fit the narrative conventions of this kind of book but are still well executed and some do take you by surprise.
There is a really interesting thorough line about the difference between faith and organised religion which ties into Gabriel's main arc.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Abandonment
Minor: Classism