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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
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
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
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