Reviews tagging 'War'

City of Thieves by David Benioff

28 reviews

buer's review

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Aside from the fact that Benioff is incapable of writing a female character who isn't leered at (which was a huge turnoff for me: this is not a book that welcomes readers who aren't horny boys/men), I initially thought this was a really lovely story. Its structure is elegant, it has a satisfying arc and conclusion, and it is peppered with visceral moments. Many of the events are absurd, but - especially when prefaced with the old "truth is stranger than fiction" adage - they are believable.

Of course a military leader would spare two condemned men's lives in exchange for a personal favor, of course that same leader hedged his bets and wound up with an unfair surplus of extravagant food while his countrymen starved around him, of course friendly fire kills one of our leads. Of course of course of course.

I did a little digging after reading and realized that the forward - which explicitly says that the book is based on actual events - is fiction. I have always loved stories that play with the line between truth and fiction. I am a strong believer that fictional stories can sometimes do a better job of getting at the truth of a historical event than a recitation of facts. But this preface strikes me as dishonest. It uses the "truth is stranger than fiction" adage as its excuse to tell an oftentimes unbelievable fictional story. 

My TLDNR is this: Making a horny war story is a weird fucking choice. Especially when it's not grounded in the truth you promise your readers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Trafficking and Antisemitism

Minor: Rape

m_a_j's review

adventurous challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Cannibalism, and War

Moderate: Antisemitism

Minor: Rape

nmwolfe's review

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I started out not loving this book, but by the last 100 pages I was hooked. One of my favorite reads so far this year. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Child death, Cannibalism, Blood, War, Sexual violence, Death, and Gore

mayaep's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Torture, Death of parent, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Cannibalism, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

ppotomova's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Cannibalism

Minor: Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Torture, Pedophilia, Genocide, Death of parent, and Animal death

katerister's review

adventurous sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Rape, Torture, and Animal death

novelideea's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Hate crime, Self harm, Misogyny, Rape, Classism, Cursing, Death, Animal death, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Child death, Excrement, Religious bigotry, War, Kidnapping, and Sexual violence

gailbird's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative medium-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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Death, War, Cannibalism, and Animal death

Moderate: Antisemitism, Classism, Cursing, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Homophobia, Gore, and Sexual content

Minor: Excrement, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and Xenophobia

capacity4wonder's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

All the women are treated as sex objects. 

Why is Vika's story not the one being told??? She has such an interesting story and we barely get to here any of it!! Also, why does she get a makeover in the end? Why does she have to be super fem all of a sudden?? I get looking different after the war, maybe growing her hair out, but the way he described her seemed way too different. 

If I were to teach an English class about Chekhov's gun, I would get them to read this book. Each of the guns went off at the at the most satisfying and devastating moments. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Death, Torture, and War

Moderate: Sexual violence

morag's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Antisemitism