Reviews with content warning for Trafficking - Šedí bastardi

I'm genuinely annoyed about what I’d hoped this book would be like, and what it actually turned out to be like, because like everyone else I was drawn into the concept of a gritty dark fantasy with half-orcs as the protagonists and not the antagonists. But here we are, underwhelmed and justifiably angry at the potential this book had that was immediately squandered by inconsistent world building, a lack luster magic system that gets virtually no expansion or explanation aside from "It's fucking magic", and a cast of characters that just never worked to endear themselves to me.

That's also not to mention the misogyny and mild homophobia, as well as sexual assault and rape mentions that are rampant throughout the book. The characters definitely took a big ol' sip of Disrespect Women Juice before embarking on this story, but after a while it felt like the author just didn't know how else to make his world dark and gritty and rough, so he just went full ham in making every character either a disgusting bundle of misogyny walking around in a flesh suit or make them the butt end of endless sexual commentary, jokes, and even acts of sexual aggression. And of course the back-handed comments about men showing emotion other than anger as backy (aka, gay) and even using it as a slur later on in context to an antagonist. Because queer people can't be anything but evil, right? Unless you're a lesbian, because that's easily fetishized in this book.

This book had a lot of ups and downs, and the ups were decent but the downs just dragged it so far down that I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone I genuinely liked. The story felt inconsistent and like the author had an idea of where he wanted to go with it but forgot to streamline the story to how we got there. The world building itself seemed to suffer the most as soon as we got away from the Kiln or the swamp, to the point where places were mentioned but not in detailed descriptions like the author just wanted to get those segments over with. It would make sense since we're seeing the story through Jackal's POV, but at the same time since it's written in third person and not first for the true POV experience, it did make the rest of this potentially expansive world seem rather lackluster. The magic system doesn't get any kind of insight, there's no real explanation how it works or how a wizard actually wields it, and the one character that we're given as the reader's gateway into that information is so unapologetically obtuse about it in an attempt at coming across as coy but just succeeds in dismantling a potentially interesting concept and more world building.

I enjoyed the first 50% of the book. Then it took a nose dive so hard I almost DNF'd it. It slowly began to climb its way back up into my good graces towards the 70-85% mark but then the final chapter had me going: "You've gotta be kidding me", and an eye roll so hard it hurt. Hence the low score.

Let's talk characters. Starting with the most controversial one. Fetching. As the sole female rider of any of the hoofs, her intro actually made me love her. She was introduced as this gorgeous bad ass who would kick someone’s teeth in if they got in her way, and by the end of the book she was the character I hated the most. I have to ask, why do authors consistently forget that you can have platonic loving relationships built on respect and camaraderie between opposing sexes? Why does it have to be sexual or romantic in nature? Because I could not give less than two flying fucks about her and Jackal's pining, their sex scene(s) were unnecessary and didn’t contribute anything worthwhile to the story. Also she went from being this hot-headed bad ass woman with a chip on her shoulder to a petulant child throwing a tantrum when literally an adult conversation between the two of them would have solved everything. Plus the events leading to me almost DNF'ing the book were the direct result of her actions, and even though we get an explanation of why it felt shoved in last minute to clear everything up instead of giving her a proper redemption arc back into the good graces of Jackal, Oats and the reader.

Plus immediately after she gets Jackal banished from the hoof and turned nomad, instead of them having a conversation or a proper fight they instead have a graphic sex scene because it's their *last chance*, or so they think at the time. Jackal had made it pretty known to the reader that he thought Fetch was attractive but the rest of the time it feels like the author is building up a relationship based on respect and equality. Just saying, the author needs to decide whether Jackal wants to respect Fetch as a person, or reduce her to her appearance and body parts.

Jackal showed the most growth over the course of the book, and rightfully so since we're watching from over his shoulder the entire time. He went from being this narrow-minded ruffian to someone who finally understands that the world is bigger than just the Lots and there is more at stake than he initially thought. He had the rose-tint removed from his eyes when it came to the hoofs and their purpose, something that none of the other Bastards were given. Out of the characters we're introduced to, Jackal was one of the few that I ended up liking towards the end of the book, even though it was very difficult when he tended to do stupid shit that served no purpose to the rest of the story aside from the need for more conflict.

Also his reaction when Hearth died while saving him actually made me tear up, and that was the only time in this book a character death actually affected me.

Oats is solid and the only other character I liked. From start to finish, Oats was steadfast in being loyal, and compassionate in his own way and without a doubt he was the best character in the book to me. It just sucks that he was surrounded by a bunch of other characters that just fell short of being endearing but I think that's why Oats stood out as much as he did. Plus he named his barbarian Ugfuck and I think that's hilarious.

The other Bastards... I genuinely couldn't tell them apart. If you asked me which was which I wouldn't be able to tell you with the exception of Hoodwink. He was written to be an outcast, to blatantly stand out and make everyone unnerved and he played his part well. It’s just that literally everyone else blends into each other and none of them had a distinct personality to separate them.

Oh, and Starling was a character who didn't need to exist. Period. Literally cut all of her scenes, erase the character from existence and pull one of the events from the last half of the book forward towards the first half and it would play out the same without having to have this nothing character for Jackal to act like a fucking dumb ass about. Actually, I stand corrected. Fetching isn't my least favorite character, Starling is. I know she plays a bigger role in the next book but my question is why was she in this book if there was no reason for her to be there?

So, I'm never reading this book again and with that ending and knowing that Fetching is the lead character in the next one I have no intention of continuing the series. It's a 1* from me, it had so much potential but none of the carry through I was hoping for. I might have given it a chance if we continued to follow Jackal's journey, but at this point I won’t even be back for the third installment to find out.

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