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frogggirl2's review against another edition
There are a lot of issues around words being used/misused in this fantasy's world context with no definition. "Castile" on pg. 16 is a region in Spain and has nothing to do with what's going on in the sentence - I assumed the author meant castle and this was a typo since the term is never defined in the world as a special term and there's no such thing as Spain here. The term gets used over and over, and the problem never gets solved. The last word of chapter two is "thicks" which has not been defined so there's no drama - if the author had just said the word "orc", then their imminent attack would have been an exciting end to the chapter.
Almost all women are whores and rape is dropped casually into the middle of sentences that have nothing to do with it (ie, pg. 29). The one female main character who isn't a whore gets stuff like, "... and honestly, Fetching, if your tongue isn’t licking my cock, I got no damn use for it” (from the leader of her tribe during battle, no less) (p.34). This book is profoundly sexist (not just the characters) and it does not like or respect women.
I rarely DNF, but the world building, characterization and writing are just not on point. And the rampant misogyny sucks. This was not worth the $1.99 I paid for it.
Almost all women are whores and rape is dropped casually into the middle of sentences that have nothing to do with it (ie, pg. 29). The one female main character who isn't a whore gets stuff like, "... and honestly, Fetching, if your tongue isn’t licking my cock, I got no damn use for it” (from the leader of her tribe during battle, no less) (p.34). This book is profoundly sexist (not just the characters) and it does not like or respect women.
I rarely DNF, but the world building, characterization and writing are just not on point. And the rampant misogyny sucks. This was not worth the $1.99 I paid for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
walkie_check's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Chronic illness, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
its_kievan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A pretty solid book all things considered. The plot was way too convoluted straight off the bat, and only started making sense at about the 2/3rds mark, but the characters were compelling enough to get me through it. The setting plays with the traditional D&D-ish tropes, mostly successfully, although the author stating it was based on Reconquista-era Spain raises some unfortunate implications. Also, I'm aware that the aggressive misogyny was "the point" but I could have done without it. I doubt I'll be reading the second book any time soon, but I'm honestly surprised I haven't heard more about French before now.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Suicide and Abortion