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smg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Death
Minor: Death and Rape
anapthine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death, Blood, Xenophobia, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Cursing
Minor: Deadnaming
hazelmort's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Death, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Rape and Pregnancy
aristata9000's review
- 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? No
2.5
Moderate: Blood, Death, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
persipha_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Blood
iristhefae's review
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Death, Cursing, and Incest
arachan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It's grimdark fantasy which is not my preferred genre. If I was asked to describe it, I would say noir fantasy with all that implies. There's a lot of "The world is horrible and shitty and the main character sees all the horrible underside of people but he's repulsed so he's the good guy!" which reminded me (unpleasantly) of GRR Martin. It also falls into the Slavic tradition of "the world is shit but what can you do?" which is hard to read in pandemic times.
All that being said, I was genuinely surprised. There were some genuinely human moments. The writing treats women as dangerous and unpredictable but does also treat that dangerous unpredictablity as a natural response to a world that's just flat out shitty to them. I did like Geralt.
There are some interesting parallels to the Netflix series but the book's characters are different in interesting ways.
Geralt is the obvious one; Netflix!Geralt is a brooding loner who still keenly feels the injustice of his treatment, he's like a younger Sam Vimes who still believes there is an objective justice out there and holds the world to it. Book!Geralt is older and both more and less cynical. He understands human foibles and mostly just tries to live with them.
Yennefer is less fleshed out (I presume her backstory happens in the other books) but the core of the character and her attitude that the world fucked her over so she's going to fuck it back twice as hard is intact.
Dandilion/Jaskier is a very different character. Again, the Netflix version is younger, rawer and more eager to prove himself. Dandilion is comfortable in his role and his life. The biggest difference here is that while Netflix!Geralt spends most of the show being an asshole to Jaskier, Book!Geralt not only cares for his Dandilion's well-being, he actually likes him. There's a comparable amount of insults but in the book, it's clearly a reflection of a very long and close friendship. Netflix!Geralt just comes across as an asshole.
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual violence
katmahalia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
My only gripe: the love interests are not interesting or lovely, mostly just annoying.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical trauma, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Trafficking, Xenophobia, and Ableism
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and War
booksthatburn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexism, Ableism, Confinement, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Body horror, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Rape, Animal death, and Child death
Minor: Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Incest, Torture, Suicide, and Animal cruelty
touchegiantsquid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual content