Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

146 reviews

latenightwriter's review

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adventurous funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

What a pleasant surprise this novel was. I'd be honored if anything I write could come close to it. Alas, I'll have to wait a day or so for its sequel to arrive in the mail, so I'll have to find another book to keep myself occupied with until then. 

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cj13's review

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adventurous dark funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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katieroth25's review

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adventurous challenging funny hopeful 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

5.0

I picked up this book for its themes of brotherhood, found-family, and heist-adventure. It is all of these things in addition to an intricate plot and great character development. I really enjoyed the stories of little Locke and Chains. In some other stories, jumping back in time to visit your characters as children would seem superfluous. But no word, theme, side-story, flashback or piece of lore is wasted. It is all used to drive the story and characters to a satisfying conclusion!

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winterwoodbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was just awesome from start to finish

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kittens_eating_aliens's review

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adventurous dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0


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eliora's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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vagrantheather's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I can see why this is a popular book and I don't think it's unwarranted. There is plenty of intrigue and the writing is solid. However, it wasn't for me, and here's why:

1) lacks a view into the character's internal world. I have zero emotional connection to these characters.

2) seriously lacks women protagonists. You know briefly of a girl who dies to give Locke motivation, a girl Locke loves but who we never meet and know nothing about, several whores, a pair of criminals, the wife of a no le person, and a powerful elderly lady in the city. Every important character is male.

3) sick and tired of main characters who are the best ___ who ever loved. Locke is a bit of a Mary Sue. It's ridiculous to think Locke can disguise himself well enough to pass as any age, or well enough that people who know him well don't recognize him. He's too good at thieving (unwarranted), he's too "smart" (always understands the con and has to explain it to everyone else), always is able to slip in and take control where he needs to. 

4) am I just not fond of high fantasy? I consider myself a fantasy fan but my favorites tend to be fairy tale retellings, not epic fantasies.

I would say Locke Lamora is a book written for the male gaze and intended for people on the younger side of the spectrum. 

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ekcd_'s review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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literarybitch's review

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adventurous dark sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

We love a gentleman bastard, a dashing rogue doing heists and dodging the law! That said, this goes to some very dark places, so fair warning: it starts out with a guy selling orphans, that's a rough place to begin.
I enjoyed myself throughout this one and I have no major complaints. The various nobles' names were hard to tell apart when they were all together in the thick of it, but I was so far in that I decided not to care and it didn't diminish my overall understanding.

Comparisons between this and The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn are obvious: they're both quite lengthy, vaguely Rennaissance-era fantasy heists starring a clever antihero and his bestie(s). Between the two, I find Ardor Benn much more fun so if you only have room in your life for one, I recommend that one. But if you don't mind the darker and sadder tones of this One Last Job gone sideways and can't get enough debonair con men, this gets the job done.

7.5/10
#WhatsKenyaReading


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ailegais's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? No

4.0


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