Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Infertility'
The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski
30 reviews
idajoh'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? No
3.5
The story is mainly told through dialogue which makes it a pretty quick and easy read. The action sequences, although few, are also very good at creating suspense while being believable. I will admig that I was a bit confused throughout most of them, but I just chalked it up to me being tired while I read most of the book.
The major downfall of this book is the extreme misoginy. No women in this book, except maybe Nenneke, is seen as something other than a sex object by all the characters. That includes Geralt. It was extremely off-putting and I'm glad that aspect was toned down in the TV series. At least Yennefer in the TV series had other redeeming qualities except her want of a child.
Graphic: Misogyny, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, Murder, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Infertility
epsyphus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Infertility, Cursing, Xenophobia, and Gore
indianagranger's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexism, Racism, Xenophobia, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Violence, Misogyny, Infertility, Incest, and Death
Minor: Colonisation and Pregnancy
taylor_annotates's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Violence and Misogyny
Moderate: Infertility
Minor: Rape
puzzle_ad's review against another edition
3.0
So I watched the first season of The Witcher show when it came out (almost mostly because of Henry Cavill, that beautiful nerd) but I thought it was kinda weird and didn't like it all that much and then ya know shit happened and the world was on fire and I forgot about it. I have never played the video games. But I thought hmm I might read the books and I never did. And then the second season came out and I wasn't sure I would even watch it. But I got my booster shot and had a headache so I decided to spend the entire day watching the Witcher while my body did its thing and created all the antibodies. And I really enjoyed it. Listen Jaskier and Yennefer were the best part. I am not surprised they are my favourites. I am a theatre kid first, human second. The funny guy that sings will always own my heart.
So I decided to try the books. I was mostly hesitant because it's a fantasy written by an old Polish man the year I was born which doesn't bode well for many reasons. It very much does read like a fantasy written by an old Polish man the year I was born. Very very sexist and misogynistic. Very much a teenage boy's wish fulfilment fantasy of a strong man fighting monsters and having women constantly throwing themselves at him to sleep with him. But honestly, I expected it to be worse. Thankfully it wasn't as graphic as I thought it would be. Every single story featured rape, every single woman was sexually assaulted in some way. I hate this the most and it is why I hate medieval fantasy. The women were very very male-gazy written. Like, listen there is an entire fucking chapter of the woman that Geralt slept with that has very conveniently taken a vow of silence so she doesn't speak and she is just there for him to monologue at about his manpain^tm. If this isn't the most fucking sexist male fantasy of having a woman there just to fuck and her being literally unable to talk. Renfri's entire story was fucking disturbing as hell. And yes I do realise that he is pulling from Slavic mythology and fairy tales and her story was basically Snow White and his take of fairy tales is very close to the original Grimm tales it still left a bad taste in my mouth. And it reminded me how much I liked Renfri in the first episode and how mad I was at what happened with her so fast.
This is another point, I have seen so many people bitch about how the show is basically fanfiction and has nothing to do with the books so I expected to be you know surprised when reading the book. But the first season followed this book so so closely that I really don't know why people are bitching so much about it. This had the side effect of me being bored because I know what happens next. There just wasn't much Yennefer and it had very little of Jaskier/Dandelion ( I firmly believe fantasy names should not be translated literally in fantasy and it means Buttercup flower too) which was a bummer. They are mostly the reason I wanted to read the books.
The main problem I had with the show was the randomness of the timelines and how it took me until episode 7 to realise there are in fact different timelines, I think I was also not alone in this. The book's short stories since it is in fact a collection of short stories and in a different order than the show's stories but also not in chronological order. Now in retrospect, I do like how they did the first season with the timelines and it is a good adaptation but I didn't enjoy it at first. I think it is a nice storytelling element.
Despite all the problems I had with this I am already halfway through the second one. What I do enjoy is the worldbuilding and mythology. I am Eastern-European and so I do appreciate it a lot. It is much more authentic than when an American author tries to use Slavic mythology. (*cough* Leigh Bardugo *cough*) I wanted to read it translated into my language from Polish (it's probably way more accurate) but there are no audiobooks and I just don't have the time and don't want to sacrifice my vision for this honestly. The audiobooks are fine enough but the narrator singing for Jaskier/Dandelion has honestly scarred me. I feel like his humour is much better in the show but that might just be my bias. I also enjoyed the writing style, though I don't know how much of that is from the translator.
Overall it was fine if you go into it expecting the problems and prepare for reading them.
Moderate: Infertility, Sexual content, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexism
anni_swanilda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Blood, Death, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Ableism, Incest, Infertility, and Rape
graceless_grace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content
Minor: Incest, Infertility, Rape, Vomit, and War
ailsaod's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I can see why people like this and it is well constructed but not to my tastes.
Moderate: Racism, Rape, Misogyny, and Death
Minor: Infertility
tilo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wenn die weiblichen Charaktere in den Geschichten nicht stark dargestellt wären und vor allem keine eigene Ambitionen hätten, die nicht zwingend auf Männern gebaut wären, hätte mich der doch sehr präsente Sexismus der männlichen Charaktere gestört. Letztendlich wirkt es aber für mich eher so, als ob die Gesellschaft in dieser Saga eher auf Frauen herabschaut, auch wenn der Autor diese Ansichten nicht in seinen weiblichen Charakteren in die Tat umsetzt.
Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Murder, and Rape
Minor: Ableism, Drug use, and Sexual harassment
myladyreads's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I really enjoyed how some of the stories in this book were clearly based on classic fairytales. The stories did a good job of alluding to the stories without being direct retellings
Graphic: Rape
Minor: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Incest, Infertility, Rape, and Sexual assault