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da3m0nic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, War, and Classism
nerdkitten's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Confinement, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, War, and Deportation
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Colonisation
lashette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
loganjana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Ableism, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, and Classism
Minor: Physical abuse and Slavery
mikariah's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Because the thing that really sells this book for me is the characters.
And I can accept a LOT if the characters are great, which I believe that these are. Now, I'm a little biased because 'just-a-little-too-fucked-up' is exactly how I like my characters in the morning. Exactly. They are all problematic faves. Even the least terrible of them have some mess they're going through, and it sucked me in, which is good because there is not much plot to speak of. Yet.
The prose is straightforward and practical. Perhaps a little too much at times, and I wished there was less psychological distancing in the flow, but overall it read quickly and painlessly.
As a side note: the content warnings aren't necessarily expressing some sort of validation within the text. The characters are just... well, they have problems. And they experience problems.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Minor: Fatphobia, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Vomit, Cannibalism, and War
netflixismyroommate's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, War, and Classism
Moderate: Genocide, Mental illness, Slavery, Cannibalism, and Colonisation
Minor: Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry
arian_dragonelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child death
Minor: Physical abuse
strawberrypinch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Suicide, Torture, and Kidnapping
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism
mmefish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
- Glokta and his crew. Terrific.
- How insufferable Jezal is.
- Very accurate portrayal of one's personal struggles.
- Humour.
- There's only 2 female characters (neither is a main character), both with minimal development.
- Too much "sucking on gums".
- The book is at least slightly racist. The only slaves we see (so far) are black, the southerns portrayed as savages, and one of the (few) characters with dark skin behaves like an animal. She literally hisses, wants nothing but to kill, jumps on tables to claw someone for no particular reason, described as to smell like piss, etc. She was a slave, not raised by wolves. Really unnecessary.
- Taking in consideration that it was written in 2006, reading multiple times that someone (a man) "fought/shrieked/cried/behaved like a girl/woman" was still a bit frustrating.
- Overexplanation. For example:
[Someone is getting whipped] Ferro twitched and winced at the sound, and her back began to tingle.
Where the scars were.
Almost as if she'd been whipped herself.
Dewy old eyes peered up and down. "Yes?"
"Inquisitor Glokta."
"Ah, from the Arch Lector?"
Glokta frowned, surprised. "Yes, that's right." They cannot be half so cut off from the world as they appear. He seems to know who I am.
Either way, I kinda see where this is going, and I can't say I like it. Plot is definitely the weakest thing about "The Blade Itself".
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Torture, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Gore, and Slavery
lidia138's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Dysphoria, and Classism