nortsapa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
i don’t like school settings and i wasn’t really prepared for us to spend 75% of this book in a school, or to encounter quite so much patriarchy. another review says the protagonist is a mary sue and i very much agree.
there’s lots of different fictional races, which i presume is why people say this cast is diverse, but it’s more like there’s russians & jews, the french & italians, the british, and romani people. as a jew, i always feel off-put by kinds of oppression/microaggressions faced by some groups in here, and by the fact that there’s a ‘money race’ for lack of a better term.
at many points the book was a chore to get through, and i was disappointed by the lack of a clean ending. also, lots of grammar/spelling/math errors in my edition?
overall i won’t be recommending it to anyone myself, but it’s a genre staple and fun to talk about with friends. definitely check the content warnings area before embarking.
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Classism, Abandonment, Death, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Racism, Medical trauma, Grief, Child abuse, Animal death, Ableism, Gore, Sexism, Vomit, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Body horror, Blood, and Addiction
Minor: Vomit, Violence, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gore, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Medical content, Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Bullying, Blood, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, War, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Classism, and Body horror
graphic depictions of whipping a child, pickup artistry, anti-sex work, timeskipsrandom_reader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Moderate: Death of parent, Police brutality, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Violence
Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit
nerdkitten's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Medical content, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Animal death, Classism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Ableism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Drug use
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Vomit, Alcoholism, Body horror, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Cursing, Trafficking, Gore, and War
midnightcomets's review against another edition
Graphic: Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Police brutality
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Rape
dreklogar's review against another edition
- 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
0.5
Random people tell stories about him, Bast adores him despite constantly acting like an abuse victim (the fear of Kvothe, being so incredibly keyed-into his every slight mood shift, going as far as constantly "teach" Chronicler how he should act), he does actually learn Chronicler's super complex short-hand very quickly. All of this is outside of the framing device and tells us that no, Kvothe isn't just full of himself.
Add to that the casual sexism of the story, how it took over half the book for a female character to show up, only for her to be put on a pedestal (Fela did show up at some point, but really, what's Fela like except "beautiful" and "into Kvothe"). Add the incredibly disgusting scene where one teacher just sexually harrasses a female student and it's all just taken in stride. Comments on how all women hate Denna, because she's so beautiful, or how Denna is compared to a natural disaster as an excuse for her hurting people. Who needs agency, right?
Also, oh, the way the poverty was handled. The way Kvothe
Spoiler
managed to leave the streetsSpoiler
Of course, showering 5-6 times removes all visible traces of poverty! When I told friends of mine how his hair was perfectly fine after he slept on the streets for two years, they were impressed anyone would be so uninformed as to write something this badThis would all be more forgivable if not for the fact that the narrative keeps acting as if it's something brilliant that has something to say about the human condition and experience. I lost count of how many times I read "If you haven't been X, you wouldn't know", and it is so clear that the author has not, in fact, been X, and has no idea either. The book was very insulting, very condescending and very, very unpleasant to read.
Graphic: Death of parent, Classism, Grief, Bullying, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Addiction and Forced institutionalization
annapox's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Classism, and Sexual assault
danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Classism, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, and Animal death
percivilious's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
characters who I think are queer:
Bast
Simmons
Probably Kvothe
The Eolian owners, I thought they were hubbies at first
I want to give Kvothe a hug, this poor man has had such a hard time, his retirement plan didn't even work out the way he hoped.
as Patrick Rothfuss has said, the writing can be a tad juvenile at times but it does work since Kvothe is a child throughout this whole book, of course he'd freak out at being in close proximity with a girl.
I like Denna, I don't have much to say about her but I like her.
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Blood, Alcohol, Violence, Classism, Grief, and Bullying
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Addiction, Drug use, and Misogyny
lunep's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Child abuse, Grief, Medical content, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Classism, Addiction, Blood, Gore, Police brutality, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Xenophobia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Sexism, and War
Graphic depictions of poverty and homelessness take up a significant portion of the story. Graphic description and discussion of giant spiders.mikki_9's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content