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rodman's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Graphic: War, Sexual content, and Violence
kirilaw's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Violence, War, and Child death
anachronistique's review against another edition
Graphic: Violence, Pregnancy, Death, Body horror, and War
siria's review
3.5
As with the first book, Nicola Griffith clearly relishes the epic sweep of the tale she's telling and loves the particularities of the land she's talking about—having read this book, I feel I'd have a reasonable chance of being able to navigate around Northumbria if you plonked me down there today, just based on Griffith's loving descriptions of it. The prose is also clearly crafted to echo medieval epic poetry, with the repetition of epithets and by-names and the use of alliteration.
That epic strength of the book is also its major weakness: it really is just too long, especially since I didn't feel that the narrative's ruminations on the book's themes weren't quite deep enough, the characters (and there are a lot of them) fleshed-out enough, to make it feel like a page count that ran into the several hundreds were earned.
I will probably continue on with the series, should Griffith publish a sequel, but I hope that she'll either get an editor more willing to tell her 'no' or that she learns how to stop over-writing.
Graphic: Death, Incest, War, Violence, Murder, and Child death
millbot'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? It's complicated
5.0
More like this, forever, please.
Moderate: Violence and Gore
ninjamuse's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Grief, War, Pregnancy, and Child death
Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Death, and Alcohol
Minor: Torture, Slavery, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Sexual content, and Rape
careinthelibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
But it's also a protracted and deep meditation on grief. That pain ebbed and flowed through this novel. I didn't expect this book to be so sad. Its effect surprised me, and each pang shivered through me. Pondering grief as deep as a lake.
The impact of war. Messy, bloody, heartbreaking, grim. Holding space in my heart and mind all month for that visceral tone. The permanent ache of family gone. The fear of losing everything. It's a big book on feeling small. And then rising up and becoming legendary.
So while it didn't captivate and enchant me like Hild did with its sparkling light of the world, it lay in my mind like a lead weight and made me reflect on the suffering in the world caused by cruelty. How some never come out from beneath that oppressive weight. Some do manage to overcome, but can they ever be the same?
Nicola Griffith is a talented wordsmith and a storyteller and this time, she confronted me with the darkest shadows of humanity.
Graphic: Miscarriage, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Incest, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Classism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Animal death, Medical content, and Rape
hanne_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Misogyny, Grief, Miscarriage, Animal death, Child death, Murder, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Abandonment, Classism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Body shaming, Homophobia, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Ableism, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Slavery
Minor: Body shaming, Infidelity, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infertility, Abortion, Animal cruelty, and Fire/Fire injury