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da3m0nic's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Alcoholism, Cursing, Murder, Sexual content, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Drug abuse, Torture, Vomit, and Drug use
Minor: Fatphobia and Body shaming
dmongo's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, War, Violence, Torture, Sexual content, and Death
embee007's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
War all the time...
Oh, sorry, not a quote from this book or series, although it could be.
& now the children are at it...The children of all the warriors & whiners from the previous books are now playing at war, or politics, & creating their own secrets, & battling with swords & whining/wining, or doing the real work while the fighting happens, & uncovering their parents secrets...
Most of their parents are still alive, most are taking a back seat to the younger generation, & we see how they handle this.
I've heard so much about Savine when people talk about "morally grey female characters done right" & "women written well by men" that my expectations were high for her, & I'm seriously disappointed that no one told me about Rikka - she's the standout character for me so far.
I accidentally skipped Sharp Edges? Ends? But I don't feel like I'm missing any information. I'll get back to it.
“Who comes up with these ridiculous names?” “Writers, I daresay."
"That’s what growing up is, maybe. Realising what a fucking arse you’ve been."
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Murder, Violence, War, Gore, and Panic attacks/disorders
hedyharper's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Chronic illness, Torture, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Colonisation, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Grief, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Incest, Addiction, Animal death, War, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Drug use, Police brutality, Child death, Classism, Alcoholism, Vomit, Ableism, Blood, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
exuberantlybuds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Classism, Violence, War, Child death, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Blood, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Vomit, Excrement, Sexual violence, Torture, and Incest
schmalan's review
- 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
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Classism
mikki_9's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, War, and Homophobia
Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Vomit
Minor: Lesbophobia and Torture
racheldelaney's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
What do I even say about the peerless character and narrative symmetry, the sheer variety of shitbirds to love (and hate), and the abject dread at turning the next page?
It’s my understanding that Abercrombie hasn’t written too many female POV characters but I couldn’t tell in the slightest. In fact, they’re some of the strongest writing here. This filled the ASOIAF shaped hole in my heart but by no means is it a 1:1 comparison. I might just order the second installment instead of waiting on the hold list at the library, because I’ll clearly own this whole series by the time I’m done.
Long live the King.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, and War
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Ableism, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, and Xenophobia
angel_kiiss's review
- 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
The women are complex without the requirement of femininity to define their womanhood and have motives beyond what you normally see written by or women in fantasy. Yes, love is nice, but they all have ambitions far beyond finding husbands that drive their characters and shape their arcs.
And the men are allowed to be “prissy” or foolish or cowardice while maintaining a character beyond “the fool,” while also treading the line between cowardice of privilege and the bravery asked of them in fantasy
That being said, I would not recommend this to an inexperienced reader; or, more than likely, as someone’s first Joe Abercrombie book (like myself). Initially, the changing point of view creates almost too much confusion. Characters are introduced with lout introductions, so for the first two or three groups of chapters you kind of play catch up with who each of the protagonists is.
There was a subtle hint that Abercrombie’s previous books were being referenced throughout various dialogue scenes, but that doesn’t mean you have to have read his other work to understand what’s happening here. This story stands alone and does not require you to be knowledgeable about the world Abercrombie has previous created.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing, Excrement, Grief, and Torture
Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Vomit