A review by josiah17
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

dark funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Very entertaining revenge story. Every single character brought something to the table, and Abercrombie's dialogue is just incredibly engaging. The dynamics between Monza and her crew provided a decent amount of nuance and tons of laughs. Shivers and Cosca in particular are standouts. Shivers mostly unintentionally hilarious, and Cosca is always ridiculous in nature.

This book also was by far the darkest of the books in the First Law world. It was abundantly grim. Largely because of the setting and Monza's status after the first chapter, but it felt like Abercrombie took things to the next level of hopelessness as we get to explore a different portion of the Circle of the World. 

Loved the structure of the book too, although the last 130 pages felt slightly prolonged to me. Looking forward to the adaptation and the other standalones. 
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