Reviews tagging 'Classism'

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

6 reviews

clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is for sure the darkest book of the series so far - the bad events are pretty much unrelenting; cough cough the Red Wedding - but it also expands the universe in a really satisfying way and delves deeper into the characters' motivations and allegiances. There's also some satisfying comeuppance (Joffrey's wedding is truly a moment to relish) and interesting alliances that bring out new facets of characters (Jaime and Brienne's fraught partnership is fascinating, and Jaime remains one of the more complicated characters in the book), and the world-building is top-tier. Just like in the TV series, Dany's journey feels a bit meandering, but at least in this book it feels like she's really wrestling with what kind of ruler she wants to be and with the betrayals of the various people in her lives.

This is the first book where it feels like there is real diversion from the TV series, and I'm excited to see where the fourth and fifth books go (and the sixth and seventh if George R. Martin ever gets off his ass, which is certainly not for certain lmao).

I'm intrigued by Ramsay Bolton being married to Jeyne Poole instead of Sansa - I read an interview with the TV writers saying it felt like it made sense for all of Ramsay's terror to be inflicted on a character we actually care about, which to me is gross and speaks to the willingness of the TV writers to put female characters through trauma that even George R. Martin didn't think was necessary. It's also interesting how little sex there is in the books than there is in the series, which again speaks to the TV writers' interest in depicting female bodies and sexual violence. Finally, I'm so intrigued by the epilogue and the question of whether Cat actually survived, and I can't wait to see if the woman is a pretender or somehow the real Cat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

buffalo666's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Moderate: Miscarriage and Abortion

Minor: Excrement and Pregnancy

lepulus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abortion

cepbreed's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

Insane. I can’t believe I ever put off finishing this book. George R. R. Martin never disappoints. I began reading this book at an inopportune time. University is stressful and took up all my time which took my focus away from enjoying A Storm of Swords. Now that’s it’s summer and I had the time to dedicate to a thorough read I mended my ways and dived head first. 

Even after watching Game of Thrones the shock and entertainment value of the events of this book never changes. This has to be my favorite of the series so far. So many terrible things happened in such quick succession I was constantly thrown from storyline to storyline at breakneck pace. In some books that would’ve been a fault but Martin has mastered a cohesive narrative despite all the separate elements happening at once. 

I will never recover from the red wedding. Never in a million year. I loved Robb so much, ever since I was introduced to Game of Thrones and then the books. He deserved at least one point of view chapter. I mourn for him but also for the lost potential of his life. I wish we could’ve seen his thoughts and understood him truly. 

On the same note I mourn for Catelyn. Not only because who she originally was is lost, but also because the fanbase villainizes her to an obscene degree. She will always be justified in my eyes. Speaking of her, the epilogue had me going absolutely insane with excitement. FINALLY we are introduced to the infamous Lady Stoneheart! The TikTok fanbase promises so much about her so I am excited to see how she plays into the narrative in the future. Like all other A Song of Ice and Fire fans I desperately wish she was a part of the tv series. They hate to see a scorned woman winning. Catelyn deserves her revenge and I will be supporting her the whole way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Child death and Fire/Fire injury

samflowerv6's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

5.0

the best book I’ve ever read. A masterpiece. I will never forget this story. Out of ASOIAF, this is the best one so far!

“Every man must die, Jon Snow. But first he must live.”

“Old stories are like old friends, she used to say. You have to visit them from time to time.”

“Woman?” She chuckled. “Is that meant to insult me? I would return the slap, if I took you for a man.” Dany met his stare. “I am Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the Unburnt, Mother of Dragons, khaleesi to Drogo’s riders, and queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.”

I am the blood of the dragon. I must be strong. I must have fire in my eyes when I face them, not tears.
 

“It hurts so much, she thought. Our children, Ned, all our sweet babes. Rickon, Bran, Arya, Sansa, Robb… Robb… please, Ned, please, make it stop, make it stop hurting… The white tears and the red ones ran together until her face was torn and tattered, the face that Ned had loved. Catelyn Stark raised her hands and watched the blood run down her long fingers, over her wrists, beneath the sleeves of her gown. Slow red worms crawled along her arms and under her clothes. It tickles. That made her laugh until she screamed. “Mad,” someone said, “she’s lost her wits,” and someone else said, “Make an end,” and a hand grabbed her scalp just as she’d done with Jinglebell, and she thought, No, don’t, don’t cut my hair, Ned loves my hair. Then the steel was at her throat, and its bite was red and cold.— Catelyn Stark”

“Always keep your foes confused. If they are never certain who you are or what you want, they cannot know what you are like to do next. Sometimes the best way to baffle them is to make moves that have no purpose, or even seem to work against you. Remember that, Sansa, when you come to play the game.”
“What . . . what game?”
“The only game. The game of thrones.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kingcrookback's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

It took me...so long to finally finish this, mostly due to the sheer length. Super excited to finally be able to move on to AFFC (though I probably should take a break in order to avoid burnout). Though I do have some complicated feelings about some of GRRM's writing choices, I ultimately think he created one hell of an interesting sandbox to play in--especially since I like picking things apart and the intertwining POVs and massive world give me a lot to work with. Even when I found certain POVs somewhat dull or grating, I still found their journeys interesting. For example,

it didn't take very long at all for Tyrion to get on my nerves, but his character journey from AGOT up until this point is pretty heartbreaking--slowly coming to the belief that no one will ever love him, no matter what what he does to try and earn it. Even Jaime, the one person in the world he's absolutely sure loves him, Tyrion learns has betrayed him. Devastating.

I am begging GRRM to finish this fucking series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Mental illness, Rape, Alcohol, and Classism