Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

57 reviews

raneyak's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.25

Really enjoyed it! Good world building and an interesting magic system. Points docked for the lackluster romance buildup and overuse of the word “scrumming”.
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nokvi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

I contemplated a lot about how to effectively rate this book. Beautiful magic system and lovable characters, Foundryside was one of my more enjoyable reads. Bennett does his best to ease you into the world of Foundryside and the fact that our MC Sancia is just as confused about the magic system as we are is the cherry on top. We navigate the world with Sancia as Bennett, explains the magic system to us over...
and over
and over
okay Robert I understand the basics now I promise

The man can write an action scene because trust there are some gory points in this book. Other than Robert's tendency to tell instead of show sometimes and his over explaining (which I can understand why people DNF this book)

Foundryside is wonderful critique of human greed, capitalism and hard limits. It begs us to ask just how much are we willing to do in the name of advancement? At what point does righteous anger become needless slaughter? We meet men and women willing to bend the very fabric of our world to ensure that they get what they want. Tevanne is a city filled with so much woes and those with the ability to assist can't be bothered thus leaving thousands without. Foundryside examines how history is twisted and lost thus influencing the world to repeat or get trapped in a similar cycle. It ask us to look within as we try to understand world as our characters do

We follow three characters as they interact with the environment and circumstances around them and in a limited third person POV, Bennett produces exceptional world building (other than when he info dumps), which is an experience when 1 member of your cast is as lost as the reader, the other is been blindsided and is naive to just how corrupt the system he is trying to fix is (Gregor my baby) and the last one is so deep within the magical system and power structure that his morals tend to be more self serving before reaching for the better.

Foundryside definitely made it's impact and I do so look forward to what is done in book 2
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skrulls's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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beebidon'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? No

5.0

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ryangiglio'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? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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beckahh_i's review against another edition

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

4.75

I tried reading this last year and DNF it, but came back and liked it quite a bit. I don't like much gore so parts of this were a bit much for me, but otherwise it was a good storyline and the magic system is really interesting.
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mikarala's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Incredibly clever and well-written introduction to a new fantasy world. The magic system in this series is so unique and well-realized, and Bennett has clearly thought through all the thematic implications of this system. The characters, plot, setting, world-building, and themes all just felt incredibly cohesive, in a way that made this novel thoroughly enjoyable and thought-provoking. The only reason I held back from giving it a full 5 stars is that I don't feel like I truly fell in love with the book at any point, however I don't really have anything bad to say about it either. A very excellent start to a fantasy trilogy.
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astropova's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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oldladysadie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I am floored by how much I enjoyed this book. The worldbuilding sucked me in immediately, I love how the magic of scriving works, the action continually surprised me and kept me on the edge of my seat, and Clef is just so funny. And mixing in
a sapphic romance for Sancia and Berenice
?? Say less. 

10/10, no notes, RIP my bank account picking up the rest of this series because my local libraries only have Book 1 🫠
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kikaas's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.25

This was soo fun, I could not put it down. The world-building and plot were EXCELLENT. I loved loved the magic system and commentary around it, everything was clearly explained without feeling info-dumpy and the story was cleverly woven and super engaging from the first page. Not a 5 stars because of some minor issues I had with the writing and (pls don’t come for me haha) the characters. I liked our protagonist a lot and the concept of every character but I didn’t fall in love with them the way other readers did. The dialogues were entertaining for sure but there was 99% banter (and the word “scrum”😂) and 1% serious conversation, and I think it prevented me from connecting more deeply with some of the characters until the very end.

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