Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Kriegsklingen by Joe Abercrombie

29 reviews

da3m0nic's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Blood, Death, Torture, Physical abuse, Gore, Domestic abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Sexism, Confinement, Mental illness, and War

mnkeemagick's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book was something of an adventure for me as well as the characters. 

Having seen some reviews depicting Abercrombie's characterization as one dimensional and stereotypical, I must admit that when first reading the book I began to wonder much the same myself. It seemed initially to be a bunch of base archetypes just doing stuff without much regard to plot. But being someone who is loathe to not finish a story once started, I continued on and feel now that these choices may be more intentional than they appear at first glance. 

Abercrombie's stories seem to idle slowly, reveling in simply living within the world without unnecessary rushing of time lines for the sake of plot points or story length. I feel the story is offering a slow burn for the sake of realistic stakes and a more in depth character arc through a fuller experience of their various starting points. 

It's refreshing to see characters dealing with more aspects of a personal reality if im honest. One of our main protagonists being an aging war monger trying to be better yet still fighting is all the more believable, in my eyes, when he fights more than one person and actually gets injured. His bloody transgressions in his youth not only haunt the fringes of his mind, but actively form his decision processes and, as shown later, are not entirely gone and are genuinely terrible to behold both for himself and the audience. 

There's a subtle play on nuance throughout that I find interesting. Shifting situations just enough to subvert expectations for the genre without beating you over the head with the idea that that's what he's doing. Characters developing slowly and with caution as information is presented or withheld, experience had, and while their initial bases feel like archetypes, they are developing more like people than like characters. Even with the mysterious nature surrounding the interweaving of our characters, allowing it to just be left in mystery, while some may find it frustrating, feels to me to be angling a better build for a better payoff down the line. 

So while one might argue that this entire book would be the composition of another book's building toward action, I'm glad to have somethin  to work toward. Abercrombie's style may not be for everyone, but I enjoy it and can't wait to dig in further to see if my ideas are correct in that this is a story we'll earned rather than a story simply told. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Slavery, Physical abuse, and Torture

nerdkitten's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Animal death, Alcohol, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexism, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Deportation, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Trafficking, Vomit, Xenophobia, Excrement, Fatphobia, War, and Body shaming

Minor: Slavery, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Grief, Police brutality, Child abuse, and Genocide

lashette's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• 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

 This was better than good but not amazing? I am intrigued to see where this is going. No one is really likeable, but everyone is either relatable or understandable. I was into the story from the beginning though we are dropped right in, no explanation whatsoever. Following seemingly random people for no reason. But each character is written in a compelling way. I'm not burning with the uncontrolled desire to know what happens next but I am interested to know. Also, boy is this violent. Mind the trigger and content warnings. Some of it is towards the main characters and some of it by them. All are morally grey at least. Definitely could've done without all the fatphobia. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Misogyny, Blood, Violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Trafficking, Sexism, Death, Classism, Animal death, and Ableism

loganjana's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• 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

As a standalone, this book is nothing but a character study, and the characters don't have much growth considering it's five hundred pages long. Five hundred pages of exposition for a story I am frankly not overly interested in continuing. Logen is this book's saving grace, as is the juxtaposition between him and Glokta. I am perhaps giving it the benefit of the doubt with rating, assuming it's all worth it down the line. Given all that, is a fascinating exercise in character- and (arguably) world-building. Unfortunately, I could write an essay on the seeming afterthought of the relatively flat female character(s). Again, I've been told this gets better. We'll see.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Torture, Classism, Violence, Ableism, Gore, and Sexism

Minor: Slavery and Physical abuse

foxmulders's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

i had fun but i am not super into trilogies that dont have much pay off within each book… this whole book felt like a lengthy exposition. love logen and bayaz tho.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Cannibalism, Gore, Torture, Death, and War

ktkeps's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Violence, and Blood

lindseyinthelibrary's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

5.0

I highly recommend reading the intro in the hardcover edition discussing Abercrombie‘s feelings towards the book. It released some rap what iPhone to be true in the book regarding tone, understanding, inspiration, etc. this is definitely a grim fantasy and I found myself a very attached the characters within the first 50 to 60% and not caring watch about the plot. However, once we got to the 70 to 75% marker I was fully engrossed in the plot and the characters! I usually don’t read books like this, and have a big book phobia cola, but I will definitely read the rest of the series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Torture

Moderate: Physical abuse

ratat0sk42's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

Anyone who like complex characters, gallows humour, and dark, gritty fantasy will love this book.

It has smooth and easy to read prose, and lots of style with a surprisingly funny edge to its narration. Every single character has depth and motivations that make you unsure if they're the good guy or the bad guy at any given moment.

One thing some people may take issue with us that the book doesn't really have much of a plot in the traditional sense, not much actually happens but I found the characters tso engrossing I didn't mind at all. 

Another thing of note is that the book is part of the First Law trilogy, which is less three stories that fit together than one big story cut into thirds, as such it doesn't really end, it just flows into the next book. If you read this book, you're in for the long haul. it's a damn good  though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Chronic illness, Violence, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, Colonisation, Body horror, Blood, Xenophobia, Trafficking, and Cannibalism

Minor: Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Grief

arian_dragonelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Gore, Murder, Classism, Blood, Cursing, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child death

Minor: Physical abuse