Reviews with content warning for Classism - A Clash of Kings

This book is not for the faint of heart, but it is a very good read. Massive trigger warnings!! George RR Martin is fantastic at writing deeply flawed, disturbed, and fascinating characters. He does not shy away from ANY taboo subjects or content. If you loved the show, the books are insanely good at world-building and the balance of political drama vs fantasy themes. Very long, sometimes boring but overall deeply interesting and worth it for the character deep dives.

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catunbound's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The book changed tonally drastically in the last 10 or so chapters, an indicator of what’s to come in the next book. But I really liked it and I cannot stop thinking about it. I fear the red wedding scene a lot. I want to skip it and maybe I will. Also, Theon you’re an ass.
Okay so fav POVs in order (sort of)
1. Catelyn (MILF extraordinaire and literally the only one with a brain cell)
2. Jon
3. Daenerys (House of Undying chapter ftw!)
4. Bran
5. Davos (the whole red priestess business, my man aged 5 decades in 5 minutes lol)
6. Arya and Sansa
7. Tyrion (fairly neutral on his POV though he’s so misogynistic towards his sister and Tysha, not to forget Shae)
8. Theon (he’s dumb of ass and I really do not like him)
Scared for the next book so I am going to take a few days and then start it 💀

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averi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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sharlie's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

George R. R. Martin's dialogue is amazing, makes the books really enjoyable to read.

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cepbreed's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

“A woman's life is nine parts mess to one part magic, you'll learn that soon enough...and the parts that look like magic turn out to be the messiest of all.”

Oh my god. I loved this book in all of its 1000 page glory. Martin continue to surprise me, even after watching the show I am so engaged in a plot I already know about because of the way he writes. The end of each chapter is masterful. Every cliffhanger still hits home, disregarding all my previous knowledge. I loved the foreshadowing as well.

Hearing the story of Bael the bard, only for his tale to come back in the form of Bran and co's method of escape was a detail I thoroughly enjoyed. I was shocked to see that Arya isn't cupbearer for Tywin in the book, but Roose Bolton. Still this tidbit of information had a much larger purpose, foreshadowing the Boltan's betrayal. To think Roose was most definitely plotting the red wedding in Arya Stark's midst. Even Bran and Rickon's death was heart wrenching to me, no matter how secure I was in the fact that they lived. I know it's stupid because currently he is less than scum, but I have so much sympathy for Theon. I know fully well that my feelings are highly exaggerated at this point because of his actions in the show, yet his desperation for validation is really tugging at my heartstrings. "I am your only protection against the likes of him, he wanted to scream." In no way am I justifying his actions, he is wholly unlikeable here, but at this point in time Martin is so obviously laying out his confusion surrounding his identity for us to understand. Like him or hate him, objectively Theon is an amazing character. Another dynamic I didn't expect to be so changed was that between the Hound and Sansa. It feels almost much more intimate from her perspective, teh romantic ideals of a young impressionable girl. Her head is filled with the ideals of 'true knights' and without any in existence she must project onto the closest match. I find the Hounds protective nature quite sweet, but that doesn't change his violence towards her when he was leaving after the Battle of the Blackwater.

I didn't like this book as much as the first, most likely my fault due to the amount of time it was taking me to get through ( 36 days total...), but the second half picked up dramatically and I become fully immersed.

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