zmeiat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

 The blatant male-gazey treatment of the female characters aside, the fantasy was decent. Not very unique, but good nonetheless, with interesting worldbuilding and very endearing bromance between Geralt and Jaskier/Dandelion.

The writting was easy on the eyes and full of action and honestly, what else do you need?
But Andrzej Sapkowski should probably frequent some courses on womens writting and take notes, because everytime a character of "the weaker sex" was introduced i broke into a cold sweat. 

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singalana's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Jotkin arvioijat ovat nostaneet esille sen, että Sapkowskin tekstistä paistaa läpi seksistisiä asenteita. No, koska kirja alkaa seksikohtauksella, jossa toinen osapuoli on ilmeisesti melko nuori, en yhtään ihmettele mistä nämä mielipiteet kumpuavat. Mielestäni naishahmojen nuoruus on jopa silmiinpistävää, ja heihin viitataan usein sanalla “tyttö”, eikä nainen. Kirjan hirviöt ovat lähes poikkeuksetta naispuolisia. Ja jos kirjan naishahmot pelastetaan hirviön kynsistä, heidän odotetaan osoittavan asiaankuuluvaa kiitollisuutta.

Kirjan rakenne on melkoisen sekava. Viimeinen toivomus koostuu useasta Noituri-tarinasta. Sen sijaan että ne olisi esitetty kokonaisena ja peräkkäin, ne on pilkottu toistensa lomaan kummallisena sillisalaattina. Tämä ehkä toimii sarjassa, mutta kirjassa lukijan täytyy olla todella hereillä.

Sapkowski lainailee elementtejä kansantaruista ja saduista. Tämä tuntuu hieman jopa laiskalta, sillä odotin, että kirjassa olisi enemmän keskitytty hirviöihin ja ylipäätänsäkin toimintaan. Sen sijaan Viimeinen toivomus on erittäin dialogipainotteinen. Voitaisiin jopa sanoa, että kirja on monologipainotteinen. Äänikirjaformaatissa se jollain tasolla toimii, koska mitä muutakaan äänikirja on, kun jonkun tyypin kertoman tarinan kuuntelemista. Yleisesti ottaen pidän silti enemmän siitä, että dialogi, toiminta ja kuvailu on enemmän tasapainossa. 

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wishbea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes

4.0


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mslotwin's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

Im rating it a 3.25 because for a long time a didn’t understand what was going on and that’s my bad. I think I would enjoy it more if before I would just go on Witcher wiki fandom and saw on overview of the stories. Honestly some parts of the world building were great and insanely creative and complex BUT I think there was a bit too much name making/ building. A lot of the plants, the cities had names which came up like once in the book and I imagine in the second part they also wouldn’t be mentioned, which for me personally isn’t really necessary and kind of made me enjoy the book less. I also am not a fan of short stories which again is a me problem mainly because there is a lot of switching the setting/ time period and I get lost pretty easily. I am torn between the book, but I think there is a big chance that I’ll enjoy the second book. A LOT MORE. I also have to mention like the misogynistic comments were crazy bro like I hated how often there were mentions of idk sex with women comments about their bodies or some icky descriptions. I hated how often the first thing when a women character showed up was her ripe boobs and hips. LIKE EWWWW. Jail. 

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hellevimediheli's review against another edition

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adventurous tense slow-paced

3.0

This would have been four stars without all the sexism. 🥲 Yennefer deserves five stars though, love her. 🤭🙌🏼

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nyx_reads's review against another edition

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Too much inappropriate content. 

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toastyghosty13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I have not read any of the books from The Witcher series until now. I have seen the first few episodes of the Netflix tv show and decided I wanted to read the books before continuing after I learned the show and games were based on books. I was pleasantly surprised at how different Geralt is in the books than in the show. Geralt is more talkative and witty in his dialogue with other characters in the books than I remember him being in the show. I really enjoyed hearing more of him than the "hulking lethal man that's tall dark quiet handsome and mysterious" they make him off to be in the show.

I also like reading about Yennefer since she was one of the characters I liked most from what I saw in the show. Her background story in the show was so interesting to me, and the way that she and Geralt's fates intertwine in the book was really interesting to see as well as to get an idea of the dynamic of their relationship in the future. 

I ended up buying a physical box set with illustrated editions after listening to this audiobook because I liked the characters, stories, and world building so much. I loved the way the narrator did all of the voices in the audiobook, but it was also hard to keep track of who all of the characters were when there were so many as well as so many places. I chalk this up mainly to the fact that this book and the next (Sword of Destiny) are labeled as prequels and short stories, so I assume that Blood of Elves will be the first full length story rather than somewhat cohesive mini tails. Even though I don't normally like short stories, I feel that this fit perfectly with the fairy tale retelling aspect since a lot of the stories seemed somewhat familiar but also so unique.

I am excited to see more of Geralt and the other characters that were introduced in this installment, as well as see when
Ciri eventually comes into the picture!!

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maeoreth's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-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


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grayreadsmanga's review against another edition

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

4.5


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hbrugoto's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny medium-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

4.75

I found reading this book more fun than the tv show. I feel it helps me understand the main character more

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