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fifteenthjessica's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'm still invested in a lot of the characters, both ones who played a major role in this book and ones who don't play a major role or even appear until later, but reading it when you know a lot of the shocking moves,
I have heard a lot of people praise his world building, and as an aspiring writer/actual dungeon master who has dabbled in world building her own fantasy settings, Martin's quality is very inconsistent at best. Daenerys spends a lot of time with the Dothraki over the course of five hefty books, but the culture comes off as very one dimensional and most members of it are forgettable. I don't think I'm alone in remembering all Dothraki characters except Khal Drogo exclusively in terms of their relationship to Dany and maybe a name because they are very unimportant. Heck, there's a short paragraph in one of Dany's later chapters that feels like Martin is just dumping the personality of the youngest of her future bloodriders (Aggo? The three of them really blur together) on us in place of letting it unfold naturally as he interacts with Dany. The culture is mostly a combination of raiding and horses, almost to the point of impracticality (how many horses do they keep if they need them for transportation, fighting, clothing, and meat, plus burn horses in the funeral pyres of their leaders so they have a mount in the afterlife? There's a reason real world horseback nomadic cultures usually herd other animals). This is especially bad if you compare them to the equally raiding focused Ironborn, who in later novels are fleshed out through four point of view characters and with a number of memorable side characters that show that not everyone is raiding every waking hour of the day.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcoholism, Death, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Torture, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Infertility
Minor: Self harm and Trafficking
uhm_kai's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Slavery
Moderate: Torture, Suicide, Fatphobia, Classism, Abortion, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, and Excrement
vigil's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Vomit, War, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Slavery
maryshelleys's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Rape, Incest, Sexual violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Slavery, Miscarriage, and Misogyny
Minor: Animal death, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship
wikawrites's review against another edition
2.5
There are already issues with the show about how women are portrayed, but after just the first book, I can already tell I prefer the show over the books. In the shows the characters are aged up, which makes some scenes easier to stomach. But the casual pedophilia in this book is terrible.
If it were not for my love of the show, this book would be an automatic 0 star.
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse
konakokiri's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death and Incest
Minor: Alcoholism
scorpioangel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Violence
ninjasunknown's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Misogyny, Incest, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism and Animal death
robcha's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Death, Rape, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Sexism, Slavery, and Incest
Minor: Alcoholism
lysac382's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Minor: Rape, Abortion, Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia