Reviews

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

Only show reviews with written explanations

juliette_bunny's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

4.25

canadianbookaddict's review against another edition

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4.0

I have been in a fantasy reading kick lately and because I was excited about The Witcher Netflix show I decided to read this book .

It is a bunch of novellas and I did enjoy it. The last 2 were not the best but good enough to want to continue reading them until the end .

I do highly recommend .

tory_shill's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

astridd_'s review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

loyaultemelie's review against another edition

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4.0

For context I watched the show before I read the book, and I will be comparing the two. So, spoilers?

If I had the option for half stars this would prolly be a 3.5. It's not forgettable enough to be a 3, and indeed some of the stories were quiet brilliant, or parts of them were brilliant. But there were a few things that held it down for me.
First, the good. I really liked how Sapkowski weaved classic fairy tales into the stories, it was cool to see a take on fairy tales in a fantasy setting like this. Also considering how different all the fairy tales were from their originals, being skeletons of their source materials rather than shameless ripoffs, they didn't seem cliche or kitschy. I liked this aspect immensely, and I hope it continues in the rest of the series.

Another thing that I liked was, of course, the characters. The Witcher is a fascinating world, and there's no denying that even the background characters which should be pretty one note are nevertheless engaging. Take Lille, a pretty simple deus ex machina. I still found her character intriguing, and yet I didn't feel cheated when little was given by means of explanations. The best fairy tales and fantasy stories after all keep some of that aspect of the unknown about them.

Now for the parts that gave me pause. To put it in one word that would be: women. The portrayal of women in this book was very... odd. Obviously prejudices existing in worlds of books isn't the issue, it's more the framing. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what Geralt's thoughts towards women were. The book, for lack of a better term, is quite male gaze-y, and that can make for sometimes uncomfortable reading, being a woman myself. That being said I had the feeling that Geralt's stray remarks were making fun of the people he was talking too. I wouldn't say that he saw women as lesser, per se, but all the women in the book felt sexualized by some degree or another, or at least all the women not past 30 (in appearance at least). There were strong women in this book, don't get me wrong. Queen Calanthe is a prime example, and even Yennefer is powerful. But that doesn't erase the sometimes uncomfortable framing. That was really what dragged the book down.

A list of moments, rather than themes, that I disliked: there was a reference to "cherry popping"; anatomical incorrectness like that is an easily google-able mistake to fix. Yennefer in the books is aware of Geralt's weird love wish and is flattered and thinks she's not worth it, I can't tell if that's part of the spell or what but haha... that consent is on thin ice and I also just don't like it. It makes more sense to me that she'd be angry and affronted. Doesn't she want freedom to choose everything? Writing dialects in books has kind of gone out of fashion, and with good reason. After the scarring attempts to make sense of the Yorkshire in the Bronte sisters' books, I'd rather no more of it. The books need more poc and lgbt characters, something to note for all writers really. I previously stated this didn't put the book down in terms of stars, but I now think not only that's inaccurate, but authors shouldn't be let off the hook for that kind of thing.

A list of moments, rather than themes, that I liked: Geralt actively saying he chose the lesser of two evils works better than in the show where he's simply pulled along. It makes the result seem all the more tragic. The Voice of Reason being split up throughout the book was clever, and the story itself was very interesting. The "chapter" where he spoke/monologued to Iola felt very emotionally raw, I enjoyed seeing that side of Geralt immensely. A Question of Price was probably the most enjoyable/strongest story in the collection; consequently that episode in the show was my favorite. Dandelion is lovely in all forms and deserves better; I also like that the Edge of the World got referenced/title dropped in Toss a Coin, nice Easter egg. The prose was enjoyable, as well as the bits of comedy. The beauty and the beast story was vaguely brilliant and definitely hilarious, it might even be my second favorite.

Best stories: A Question of Price, A Grain of Truth, the Edge of the World
Worst stories: The Last Wish

Overall: 3.5/5 or 4/5, would recommend because really it is a good book. I've kind of fallen in love with this world so despite my issues with it I will definitely be continuing on with the series, and it's definitely shaping up to be a favorite.