Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - The Lies of Locke Lamora

Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

23 reviews

dragonaion's review

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

This book is brilliant, a wild ride, and I was delightfully surprised. I thought this would be a story of a petty thief who would get caught and end up escaping in a new Robin Hood retelling. What I got was something completely in a world of its own that has almost made me cry repeatedly. What can only be described as "grunge fantasy" (high fantasy 1,000 years post societal collapse in the slums of New York) this has more heart, love, and sheer brilliance than almost any other book I've read to date. Every moment, every interlude, weaves together in such a way that turns this from a story into art, following a batch of characters that are relatable, lovable, and wears no plot armor. I cannot gush more about how amazing and unique this book is- if you have fond memories of the concept of the brotherhood in Theives, this is just the story for you.
"Liar... Liar... Liar... Bastard!"

Edit: I've found another book that is a sibling-story to this. If you enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora, you will absolutely feel right at home with Nevernight by Jay Kristoff.

Content Warnings

foxmulders's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense fast-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 don't have to beat you, motherfucker. i just have to keep you here...until jean shows up.

Content Warnings

madamenovelist's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

the_real_al_cal's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

After many, many years of keeping this book on my shelf, I finally decided to delve into it! After seeing countless adoring reviews from readers who share my taste in books, I thought I was in for a wild, spectacular ride. How did I feel upon finishing this book? ...It was just okay.

What I liked about the book (without spoilers): Most of the main characters. I really enjoyed the Gentleman Bastards and their relationships with one another. I have a soft spot for twins in storytelling, so I instantly fell in love with the Sanza boys. The worldbuilding was also pretty good, and the world was easy to picture in my mind's eye. The dialogue was fun. Most of the action was well-written, and the antagonists didn't pull their punches, which made the danger much more real. Locke's plans are always really fun and interesting to follow, and you don't always know what he's up to until he puts his plan into action. It's a really fun way to tell the story.

What I didn't like about the book (without spoilers): THE PACING. That was the most frustrating part of the entire book for me, and the thing that stuck out to me the most. It constantly away from the action to tell little vignettes from the past. Sometimes the stories are touching or add to the plot in some way, but other times they feel totally unnecessary. They're often right after exciting cliffhangers, which completely destroys the tension that Scott Lynch builds in each chapter. They weren't bad moments; they were just told at the wrong time. If the entire story had been told in a more linear fashion, I probably would have really enjoyed those chapters--and the whole book--a lot more.

I have a feeling that this may be different in the rest of the series, but I also didn't care for the treatment of women in this story. There were a few named women, but they were often only there as plot devices before they were shuffled out of the way. The Gentleman Bastards kept referencing another woman, but she never showed up. I imagine she plays a bigger role later in the series, but judging this book based on the women who were included, it wasn't the most diverse or empowering story that ever existed.

All this to say: I won't say I'll never read the rest of the series, but I'm not chomping at the bit to buy the next book either.

Content Warnings

rangerwing75's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I’ll be frank and admit that the only reason I wanted to read this was because of Murphy Napier constantly singing its praises, and I trust her judgment on good books.

And holy hell was she right.

The dialogue was the best part of this book. The characters are witty and filled with all kinds of colourful insults and threats.

The world is so so detailed. Like. It’s clear a lot of care was put into crafting this world. However, I found this could be a bit of a detriment at times. There’s a lot to remember, because everything impacts the plot in some way, and I struggle with grasping detail sometimes.

My only other big gripe is that there were times when the plot dragged. When it dragged, it dragged hard. I’m also not so sure how I feel about the interludes (which is just a fancy term for the flashbacks). Yes, they provided the necessary information for what was to come, and I don’t think there was a better way to have gone about it, but it just wasn’t something I personally enjoyed.

Overall, solid book. Locke and Jean’s friendship is top tier. Be mindful of the constant threats to cut off people’s balls.

Content Warnings

veronika_kasardova's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

bluejayreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was recommended to me by a friend (the same friend who recommended Circe, funnily enough). And like I do with most recommendations from friends, I didn’t really pay attention to what the book was about, just threw it on my to-read list and picked it up with no expectations and no real idea of what it was even supposed to be about.

I have to take a small detour here and talk about Leverage. Leverage is a TV show featuring a bunch of variously-skilled former criminals (and one insurance investigator) who use their various criminal skills in brilliant and elaborate plans to take down criminals that the law can’t or won’t touch. I adore the show. It’s hands-down my favorite show ever and the only show I’ve loved enough to enjoy fandom content. And if Leverage was on the more dubious side of morally gray, set in a Venice-flavored fantasy world, and led by a teenager who belongs in the definition of “confidence game,” you might get something like The Lies of Locke Lamora.

I don’t know how to write a review of this book except to say that it is really, spectacularly good. It is long, even for a fantasy book, but it needs every single word of that length because there is just so much going on always and constantly. That was the overwhelming feeling I got from reading – that everywhere I looked and even in the background, there was so much going on. The action never stops, it just swings back and forth among perspectives and times. The main story of Locke and company pulling their scam and running up against the Grey King is interspersed with bits from Locke’s past, from the history of the city and nation, and other things happening in Camorr at the same time. And it’s not just Locke against the Grey King, oh no – that would be far too simple for the audacity of this book. There are no less than five, and arguably up to eight, different factions fighting for their own goals for their own reasons (and two of them are Locke himself).

A large part of what makes this book so hard to review is that the details are revealed in layers. It starts out with a crew of talented thieves and grifters preparing to run an elaborate con on a pair of nobles. Okay, I thought, A fun and adventurous heist story. Cool. And then the story begins to peel back the layers to all the competing factions, all the factors at play in Camorr, all the plans set in motion and beginning to come to a head, and suddenly the highly entertaining and audacious heist is one of the least interesting parts of the story.

Everything is happening all the time and you’re constantly getting more information and nothing is ever what it seems. You may have gotten through three twists and finally think that you’re at the truth of something finally and you’re probably wrong. Very few solid answers are available to any but the most perceptive reader (definitely not me) until the very end. And I adored it. It was somehow both incredibly dark and a ton of fun, full of plot twists, overlapping schemes, audacious plans that somehow delightfully work, and steady slow reveals that felt like repeatedly handing me puzzle pieces and requiring me to figure out where they went while I was still receving more puzzle pieces.

I didn’t know going in that this was a series, but you’d better believe I’m reading the next book. And I very much hope that it’s more of the same.

Content Warnings