brixdan's reviews
932 reviews

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.5

I didn't like this book until page 504 when it barely passes the Bechdel test. Took me way too long to read because 500 pages of not liking a book is too much wasted time to slog through.

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

This book barely passes the Bechdel test even with a female main character. The first conversation this famle lead has with another female lead iwnt until 300+ pages into the book, there are a total of 3 conversations in the whole book between 2 women and they all include the baseline of talking about men, but 1 conversation did at some point have a sentence where a man wasn't discussed from both parties, although it was like pulling teeth to get that. You can tell me with all your blow hardness that the world building made it impossible for more than 1 female character to be prominent in the story and I still won't believe you. You could build this same story with far more female characters and lose nothing. It's just white male rationale.

Despite its failings and sexism, I can still appreciate a good story and good world building. Hopefully Mr. Sanderson uses more than a token female as lead to push his books in the future and just realizes that women are 50% of the population and are not vapid silly things to add as set dressing in the future. Though male mentality and fame probably will make him continue his misuse of females through his books. Guess I can read and find out or just move on to better books with more dynamic characters and variety.

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced