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surdiablo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.0
My feelings are a bit complicated when it comes to this one, but I believe it's safe to say I didn't love it like the original trilogy, although it's an excellent standalone novel. I will explain what I liked first. As usual, Abercrombie excels at writing characterizations with such distinct voices and having delightful, humorous banter between each other, which often were among the highlights of this book for me. Without getting into direct spoilers, there were indeed several references and appearances of certain characters, both major and minor, from previous trilogy. They all served their purpose very well and was integrated rather tastefully with proper reasons, than just for the sake of cameos. The book also retains a cinematic effect during action sequences and other important scenes, just like in the trilogy and was also reminiscent of 'Kill Bill' movies which I really liked. Some of the character growth might be different from what you may expect at first, but they left me with a lot to ponder about in a bittersweet way, which I actually appreciate.
As for what I didn't like, I found the book to be dragging somewhat in certain sections which felt like a chore to read sometimes, but of course not in an extreme way, like with certain Wheel of time books. My major problem, which I'm sure your mileage will definitely vary, was that the main character wasn't much interesting to me. Now don't get me wrong, Monza is fine on her own and was definitely a strong badass who you can root for, it's just that I personally found her a bit too straightforward and bland with the goals she had in mind and her actions in general, while the side characters were simply more appealing as people to read about. I loved all of their arcs regardless either way, especially the irony surrounding some of them.
As for what I didn't like, I found the book to be dragging somewhat in certain sections which felt like a chore to read sometimes, but of course not in an extreme way, like with certain Wheel of time books. My major problem, which I'm sure your mileage will definitely vary, was that the main character wasn't much interesting to me. Now don't get me wrong, Monza is fine on her own and was definitely a strong badass who you can root for, it's just that I personally found her a bit too straightforward and bland with the goals she had in mind and her actions in general, while the side characters were simply more appealing as people to read about. I loved all of their arcs regardless either way, especially the irony surrounding some of them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, War, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Child abuse
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