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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
exteenawreads'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
3.5
So ya, I dunno.
I think the writing was excellent, the world was immersive and thrilling, and the story compelling. The battle scenes are expertly written and many moments are truly exhilarating. The prose is beautiful and poetic, the characters are memorable and unique. I really enjoyed what was basically a randomly generated DND party of diverse folks, forced together and fighting against all odds on a quest to save the broken world. It seems to heavily take inspiration from other media I love like The Witcher and The Last of Us, though that meant I wasn't too surprised by the direction. It was just so painfully obviously written by a man the feminist in me couldn't help but cringe often. And don't get me wrong, I get that the point of showing all of this violence and hatred of women is to highlight it as toxic and wrong. But the way it's written also glorifies it, and the story isn't about fighting the patriarchy - it's about a man out for revenge and glory, his enemy just happens to also be thinly veiled patriarchy and religious zealotry.
Ex: A vampire obsessed with teenage girls and turning them to be his unwilling slaves, literally pulling his carriage all half naked? = Evil, this is a villain, we don't root for him. But the writing itself directs the reader to see these things moreso as acts of great power and strength, and the simple truth of what a man would do if they were infinite and unkillable. This vampire is described very positively as beautiful, strong, something to be respected and feared. Yes he's a villain, but I'm also not convinced the author doesn't sort of revere men like him or at least see this as the average man's ideal. And the many examples of this throughout are hard to ignore.
Overall I did really like it, I just feel a little icky about it. And I truly could have done without the underage kid sexualizing. And the animal deaths :(
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
bookbeetlebabe's review against another edition
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
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
nancy_sch's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
0.25
For all that, the 700-odd pages are just the preamble to the actual story that’s still to come.
Hard to believe this passed a plagiarism test.
Hard to believe they’re not being sued for copyright infringements.
Hard to believe an editor checked this or publisher might think this worthy of publication.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Toxic friendship
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
teri_b's review against another edition
Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, and Murder
kkuesters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
sunsetsyd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia and Misogyny