Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Before They Are Hanged

So, so good. Every setting and action scene was vivid, immersive, and memorable. The sense of impending doom was real. The characters are as 3D as real people at this point. I'm loving this series. Bring on book 3!

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thepurplebookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Discussion of The First Law: https://youtu.be/102HBqnE2u0.

So book two was fine as well.

Character work-wise: I got a smidge of character development, I'll give it that. With Jezal (~~subverted Aragorn~~) and Logen (~~subverted Jon Snow~~) especially. I also liked the latter a bit more in this one.

However, I freaking called it that he and Ferro would fuck, and I hated how that went down.

Theming-wise: still nothing to report... beyond 'baby's first steps into nihilism' levels of: 'life is meaningless beyond the friends we made along the way' type stuff I find profoundly uninspiring and, honestly, pretty tedious at this point.

World-building-wise: eh, we got a bit of background lore in this one, sure, but it still wasn't anything to really write home about.

Plot and structure-wise: book two was a little tighter, I guess. But then it also pulled a twisty twist towards its end I found more juvenile than anything else. Or I mean... it stank of D&D style 'subversion for subversion's sake', and I'm just not about that. Although, honestly: I wasn't exactly upset by this either, because I just... did not care. 😂

Whatever. It was fine, like I said, and I'll see the trilogy through.

PS: I guess I kinda like Glokta and Ardee's relationship.

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jos400's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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da3m0nic's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

4.5

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grunks's review against another edition

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The descriptions of sex were much too graphic for me

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nerdkitten's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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singalana's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Before they are hanged is deliciously dark fantasy with gritty characters. The book picks up pretty much where The blade itself ended, and follows mainly three plotlines: the fate of Dagoska, the journey to the Edge of the World and the war between the Union and the Northmen.

The cast of characters is vast, but the characters are interesting and feel real with all their faults. Reading these books, it definitely feels as though the characters are influencing the plot as much as the plot is influencing them. The story arc is complex, and you can’t just pick up a book in the middle of the series and hope to understand what is happening. This book ends up the same as The Blade Itself: the story is by no means finished. Therefore if you like books in a series to have clear endings, then you are not going to like this.

I liked this book very much, and the narrator in the audiobook was excellent. My only complaints are that this book could have been trimmed a bit, it felt like it was going on for ever (even though it avoided being boring). And the second complaint was that the sex scenes were a little bit awkward to listen to in the audiobook. Other than that, I enjoyed this very much and I can’t wait to see what happens in the final book of the trilogy.

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josiah17's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense slow-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

The first half of this book was a bit difficult to get into. I think that's partially due to me burning myself out a bit the past few days with reading. But I LOVE the second half of this book. And now that I've finished, I can look back at the first half and appreciate it more.

The character work is downright phenomenal. I just love spending time in the heads of these characters, and Abercrombie makes it so easy to feel engrossed with his accessibile and fluid prose.

The plot felt like it meandered a little more than the first book, as this still feels like a setup book for the culmination of everything in the third and final book. But just as I can look back and appreciate first book after finishing, I can do the same for the plot and understand that this is building up to something that will most definitely be extraordinary.

I can't wait to read the third book!

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