Take a photo of a barcode or cover
rowanguerrin 's review for:
The Lies of Locke Lamora
by Scott Lynch
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
the lies of locke lamora is a genuinely delightful read. i cannot come up with any better, longer way to say it. it’s an absolute blast. scott lynch does an amazing job building a world— in tone, culture, religion, politics, etc— in which these absolutely ridiculous (said with love and affection) characters can run amok and con the pants off of people, and he balances humorous and serious moments in a way that is both delightful and believable to read. the characters and the cons both are completely believable— outlandish, sometimes, and often a little hubristic, but all in a way that makes perfect and total sense for a person and/or their schemes to be. also, the foreshadowing in this book goes CRAZYYYYYYY (and i know goes crazier with the other books in the series— though i cannot overemphasize the fact that the majority of the foreshadowing you will pick up as a first time reader resolves within the book, and what doesn’t is comparatively minor and clearly something that will lead and tie into the rest of the series).
i know some people have critiqued the use of flashbacks in this book, which, frankly, is kind of baffling to me— none of them are useless. they all serve to: explain or foreshadow something to come later (often as immediately as the next chapter); tell you something about camorr and/or its people (that will become relevant/contextualize something in the next section); tell you something important about a group of people (which will become relevant); and/or tell you something about the deities and their priesthoods (which will become relevant— are we seeing the theme here?). it’s one thing to not like the flashbacks—everyone has their own tastes, and more than that i think it’s a valid critique to question the extent to which they are utilized— but they ARE useful, and i will die defending their function! and i do think they are enjoyable! but i suppose if you’re someone who doesn’t much care for flashbacks, that might impact your enjoyment of this book, and so i think it’s worth noting their presence while emphasizing their function.
locke, our titular and main character, is an absolute menace who needs to become 500% more paranoid than his is, and i would kill for him. his merry band of gentlemen bastards are all completely charming in their own rights, too; and while i know the trope has been overused to the point of being watered down, the gentlemen bastards really are a found family— they really do love and care about each other, and there’s not a page that went by where i didn’t feel that. i cannot stress enough how much fun i had with all the characters in this book (even those who do not call themselves gentlemen bastards, which is to say their allies, marks, and enemies); they were so delightfully written, and served as beautiful anchoring points for the massive web of deceits the book thrusts us right into.
i cannot say much more without giving the game away, so to speak, but i absolutely, 100% recommend this book. it is wonderfully done. scott lynch when i CATCH YOU—
i know some people have critiqued the use of flashbacks in this book, which, frankly, is kind of baffling to me— none of them are useless. they all serve to: explain or foreshadow something to come later (often as immediately as the next chapter); tell you something about camorr and/or its people (that will become relevant/contextualize something in the next section); tell you something important about a group of people (which will become relevant); and/or tell you something about the deities and their priesthoods (which will become relevant— are we seeing the theme here?). it’s one thing to not like the flashbacks—everyone has their own tastes, and more than that i think it’s a valid critique to question the extent to which they are utilized— but they ARE useful, and i will die defending their function! and i do think they are enjoyable! but i suppose if you’re someone who doesn’t much care for flashbacks, that might impact your enjoyment of this book, and so i think it’s worth noting their presence while emphasizing their function.
locke, our titular and main character, is an absolute menace who needs to become 500% more paranoid than his is, and i would kill for him. his merry band of gentlemen bastards are all completely charming in their own rights, too; and while i know the trope has been overused to the point of being watered down, the gentlemen bastards really are a found family— they really do love and care about each other, and there’s not a page that went by where i didn’t feel that. i cannot stress enough how much fun i had with all the characters in this book (even those who do not call themselves gentlemen bastards, which is to say their allies, marks, and enemies); they were so delightfully written, and served as beautiful anchoring points for the massive web of deceits the book thrusts us right into.
i cannot say much more without giving the game away, so to speak, but i absolutely, 100% recommend this book. it is wonderfully done. scott lynch when i CATCH YOU—
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Torture
Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Drug abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Sexual harassment