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stephaniemcuervo's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Blood, Torture, Slavery, Murder, Gore, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Cursing, Cannibalism, Xenophobia, War, and Child death
Moderate: Sexual content, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Vomit, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Miscarriage, Excrement, and Abortion
mpickard's review
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
It was a fitting end to the series and although the end is unsatisfying, the storylines are wrapped up and the mysteries revealed. I saw a couple of twists coming, but there were plenty of surprises too. This isn't my favorite book of the series but it's still very good. As always, the (male) characters have incredible depth and its so interesting to read their POVs. I think this book was more violent than the others and I found myself skimming through the fight scenes.
My thoughts on characters:
Logan: he was my favorite POV in the previous books but he took a dark turn in this one. He had less agency than normal and you can see how he got his reputation. Although he claims to not want to fight and kill, he never makes any decisions to break the cycle of violence. I still think he is a good person but I don't think as highly of him.
Glokta: he is an absolutely terrible person. No redeeming him but he doesn't want to redeem himself despite occasionally doing a single good thing. His POVs were sometimes annoying because they were so self pitying but at the same time, his sarcasm was amusing.
Jezal Luther: he seemed like the biggest character improvement which was honestly surprising and kinda sudden. Who knows if it will stick. He seems like the perfect candidate to be a figurehead. He will be fine.
Bayaz: what a spider with his fingers in every pot. Honestly not sure how he managed it all since it seemed like he only had a couple of people close to him. He also knew so much but also missed some really big points.
Dogman: my favorite character. His falling out with Logan was heartbreaking.
Collem West: a mostly ok person. Tried really hard all the time. He had major anger issues that didn't get shown enough imo. He lost my respect when he hit Ardee, no matter how sorry he was.
Ferro: she doesn't as much character development and her POVs were pretty boring. She seems like she ended up where she wanted to be from the beginning, killing Gurkish people. I thought it weird that she didn't react to Logan. Of all the characters, we know the least about her backstory and she was the hardest to connect with since she has such a one track mind. It would have been nice to get some more personality from her. All she did was kill things, sleep with Logan, and be able to hold a stone.
Ardee West: the women in these books got the short end of the stick. When Ardee was introduced, I thought she would be a major player since she was so smart and outspoken. But instead she became a drunk who didn't impact the story besides being used to advance the storylines of her brother, Jezal, and Glokta. We are supposed to believe that she is happy taking care of Glokta shitty bedsheets now?? Very disappointing.
Queen Terez: I'm going to be honest, the treatment of Terez put such a bad taste in my mouth that it ruined the book for me a bit. I had been so relieved that there wasn't much sexual violence in the first books that what Glokta makes her do is so shocking and disgusting to me. I know the point of the book is that villains aren't usually punished. But even with all the violence and suffering in the book, this was especially vile. The only gay character in the book being forced to have sex with Jezal and have at least four children or else her lover will be raped? Honestly, I found that scene more nauseating than all the death and physical violence.
Women in First Law books: I was honestly a bit disappointed by the female characters in these books. The female representation isn't as bad as other fantasy books, but it's not as good as I had hoped. I don't think they passed the Bechdel test despite the large cast of characters. Ferro was the only one we got a POV from, and although she was powerful and had the potential to be an interesting character, she didn't feel as real as the other POVs. The more minor characters were disappointingly lacking agency or a credible backstory. The only female wizard was bitter and not over Bayaz. The Makers daughter was tragic, bitter, evil, and not over Bayaz. The witch who worked for Bethod had no backstory even though she could have been as interesting as the Feared. The previous queen lost both sons and a husband within a year and is never mentioned again. The female Practical (who's name I'm forgetting) was another physically strong woman but it seemed so weird to make her have a romantic history with the mercenary. She was another person that I thought might play a larger roll than she did.
My thoughts on characters:
Logan: he was my favorite POV in the previous books but he took a dark turn in this one. He had less agency than normal and you can see how he got his reputation. Although he claims to not want to fight and kill, he never makes any decisions to break the cycle of violence. I still think he is a good person but I don't think as highly of him.
Glokta: he is an absolutely terrible person. No redeeming him but he doesn't want to redeem himself despite occasionally doing a single good thing. His POVs were sometimes annoying because they were so self pitying but at the same time, his sarcasm was amusing.
Jezal Luther: he seemed like the biggest character improvement which was honestly surprising and kinda sudden. Who knows if it will stick. He seems like the perfect candidate to be a figurehead. He will be fine.
Bayaz: what a spider with his fingers in every pot. Honestly not sure how he managed it all since it seemed like he only had a couple of people close to him. He also knew so much but also missed some really big points.
Dogman: my favorite character. His falling out with Logan was heartbreaking.
Collem West: a mostly ok person. Tried really hard all the time. He had major anger issues that didn't get shown enough imo. He lost my respect when he hit Ardee, no matter how sorry he was.
Ferro: she doesn't as much character development and her POVs were pretty boring. She seems like she ended up where she wanted to be from the beginning, killing Gurkish people. I thought it weird that she didn't react to Logan. Of all the characters, we know the least about her backstory and she was the hardest to connect with since she has such a one track mind. It would have been nice to get some more personality from her. All she did was kill things, sleep with Logan, and be able to hold a stone.
Ardee West: the women in these books got the short end of the stick. When Ardee was introduced, I thought she would be a major player since she was so smart and outspoken. But instead she became a drunk who didn't impact the story besides being used to advance the storylines of her brother, Jezal, and Glokta. We are supposed to believe that she is happy taking care of Glokta shitty bedsheets now?? Very disappointing.
Queen Terez: I'm going to be honest, the treatment of Terez put such a bad taste in my mouth that it ruined the book for me a bit. I had been so relieved that there wasn't much sexual violence in the first books that what Glokta makes her do is so shocking and disgusting to me. I know the point of the book is that villains aren't usually punished. But even with all the violence and suffering in the book, this was especially vile. The only gay character in the book being forced to have sex with Jezal and have at least four children or else her lover will be raped? Honestly, I found that scene more nauseating than all the death and physical violence.
Women in First Law books: I was honestly a bit disappointed by the female characters in these books. The female representation isn't as bad as other fantasy books, but it's not as good as I had hoped. I don't think they passed the Bechdel test despite the large cast of characters. Ferro was the only one we got a POV from, and although she was powerful and had the potential to be an interesting character, she didn't feel as real as the other POVs. The more minor characters were disappointingly lacking agency or a credible backstory. The only female wizard was bitter and not over Bayaz. The Makers daughter was tragic, bitter, evil, and not over Bayaz. The witch who worked for Bethod had no backstory even though she could have been as interesting as the Feared. The previous queen lost both sons and a husband within a year and is never mentioned again. The female Practical (who's name I'm forgetting) was another physically strong woman but it seemed so weird to make her have a romantic history with the mercenary. She was another person that I thought might play a larger roll than she did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Rape, Child death, Torture, and War
nerdkitten's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Vomit, War, Terminal illness, Blood, Cursing, Murder, Rape, Torture, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Cannibalism, Lesbophobia, Classism, Outing, Ableism, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Medical content, Racism, Sexual content, Alcohol, Excrement, Grief, and Xenophobia
Minor: Abortion, Body shaming, Abandonment, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Genocide, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Sexism
surdiablo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Hands down the best book in the series so far. While I loved the previous books, finding them hilarious and entertaining on a vast scale, I still had an inkling of doubt about the series as a whole, wondering if it's a tad overrated due to the praise I saw it received everywhere referring to it as mind-blowing, which I didn't feel at first, regardless of my consistent enjoyment. After reading this book however, I realized that the first two books were mainly a setup for the final clash but they still masterfully connected every piece of the puzzle, some of them had been dangling in front of my nose the whole time. I wasn't prepared for the final showdown at all, and it went above and beyond my expectations. It's one of the most depressing novels that I have ever read, leaving you alone with the faintest glimmer of hope at the end, and I still loved it..
The characters of course grow further, or at least some of them thinks to themselves that they do. It leaves you with such conflicted feelings wondering who to root for, as even the nicest one among them was aphysically abusive asshole with anger issues , yet they remain to be captivating all the same. Some of them strives to be better and fails miserably as they make the wrong choices still, while the rest of them do change, but still remain the same at their core. It was honestly a struggle to witness it, all of their lives intertwined together and at the control of one person who was never what he initially appeared to be, who ultimately wins at the end. It reminds you of the fact that people don't always get what they deserve, whether it's good or bad, also the fact that some people ultimately reverts back to their base instincts, when under extreme duress.
All the doubts or questions I had throughout the series were answered and it was so satisfying to see everything unraveled, although it obviously didn't always lead to pleasure :') The whole part II was such a wild ride for me that each chapter left me breathless. It had some of the best action scenes I have ever readholy shit, that duel was fricking amazing!!! along with horror, distress, mystery, heartbreak and of course the humor, which this time was overshadowed by bleakness. It had moments that had me cheering at first, which soon turned into horrified gasps. As for the ending itself, pretty much all the main characters lived which I didn't expect, and yet they are in no better position than when they started, in fact some of them are at their worst. I can see people hating it, I definitely feel depressed about it, but it was the right ending. All in all, it was very close to a masterpiece if you ask me, almost tied with my favorite book of all time so far. I feel like I need a cigarette after finishing it and I don't even smoke.. Gonna need a palette cleanser before starting the remaining standalone novels.
The characters of course grow further, or at least some of them thinks to themselves that they do. It leaves you with such conflicted feelings wondering who to root for, as even the nicest one among them was a
All the doubts or questions I had throughout the series were answered and it was so satisfying to see everything unraveled, although it obviously didn't always lead to pleasure :') The whole part II was such a wild ride for me that each chapter left me breathless. It had some of the best action scenes I have ever read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Gore, and War
Moderate: Cursing, Alcoholism, and Rape
Minor: Sexual content, Child death, and Pregnancy
harley_merlin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.75
Ich habe diese Reihe vor einem halben Jahr angefangen. Demnach habe ich ganz schön lange gebraucht, was aber nicht an dem Buch lag, sondern eher daran, dass ich mich nicht so lange auf die Geschichte konzentrieren konnte. Eigentlich war sie bis jetzt sehr gut, voller Humor und angenehm brutal, mir waren die einzelnen Bücher aber ein wenig zu lang. Die Charaktere des Buches waren sehr angenehm. Es gab keine Superhelden und auch keine wirklichen Schurken. Dadurch konnte man sich selbst ein Bild von den Charakteren bilden und sich in viele von ihnen hineinversetzen. Die ganze Geschichte war ein wenig blutig, es wurde aber so dargestellt, dass man es eher lustig als brutal fand. Mir hat außerdem gefallen, dass die einzelnen Persönlichkeiten menschliche Probleme und Gefühle hatten und dass ich dadurch mit jedem mitfühlen konnte. Auch die, die am Anfang unnahbar und gefühlskalt wirkten, lernte ich mit der Zeit fast schon zu lieben. Ich denke sie alle hätten mal eine feste Umarmung nötig, auch wenn nicht alle sie verdient hätten. Ich muss sagen, dass ich die ganze Reihe bis hier hin geliebt habe und mich schon riesig auf den nächsten Teil freue. Leider gab es einen blöden Cliffhanger und ich habe das nächste Buch noch nicht zuhause. Ich empfehle das Buch jedem, der blutige Geschichten mit vielen Intrigen mag, auch wenn man es nur entweder hassen oder lieben kann.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, Torture, Violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, Cannibalism, and Self harm
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing
marthadude's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Slavery, Vomit, War, Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Chronic illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
The book is filled with violence and war. There is some slight lesbophobia at the end,kylieqrada's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he's one of my new favorite authors!!!! I really was living for the character arcs in this installment. I am still such a Logan Ninefingers stan, though. I love Glokta as much as the next person, but Logan just does it for me, idk. Also THE REVEALS?! C'mon. Nothing less than perfection. And it really couldn't have ended any other way. Stunninggggggg!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, and Rape
Minor: Child death, Sexual content, and Slavery
alaa_ilikecats's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-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
4.5
This trilogy is really well written, I just wonder if this is my type of book. I just feel sad that Bayaz wasn't murdered
There is no closure here
There is no closure here
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Child death
ellitheelf's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Cursing
Moderate: Child death, Terminal illness, and Rape
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