Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

6 reviews

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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

3.0

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readwithria's review against another edition

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

3.5

Twelve years ago, some people received Epic powers when Calamity appeared in the sky. Those people are all villains, and it’s up to a group of regular people to take them down.

I love Brandon Sanderson, and decided to branch out from the Cosmere into some of his other works. His pacing and action sequences are amazing, as usual, and the world building is intriguing and unique in so many ways. There are, however, a few things that bothered me about this particular book.

My biggest issue was with some of the slang and place names in the book. This book takes place twelve years after some of humanity received their powers, and all of the characters we meet are over the age of 18. And yet, somehow, curses have completely changed. The three that Sanderson created for this series were 
1. sparks (replacement for damn, fuck, and other exclamations)
3. Calamity (seemed like a replacement for things like “Jesus Christ” or “holy shit”)
4. Shlonts (an insult, similar to shithead)
Why on earth would slang change that quickly? It makes no sense, and every time I read one of them it completely took me out of the book.

Similarly, the name of Chicago was changed to Newcago, and I’m sorry but that’s the worst place name I’ve ever heard. This is Brandon Sanderson we’re talking about, and the best thing he could come up with was Newcago?? I’m bamboozled.

Last, but not least, Brandon Sanderson is not a romance writer in any way, and because this series is his take on the novelization of the comic book structure, there obviously needed to be a romance subplot. But oof, it wasn’t good. This might be the worst Sanderson romance I’ve read.

Now that I’ve gotten past that though, here are some of the things I DID enjoy!
- the world building is so good! The Epics, their powers and weaknesses, the tech, how the city was changed by the events of the prologue, it’s all so well done! Sanderson is the king of unique world building
- the secondary characters! I love Abraham and Cody so much, and Tia really grew on me
- A couple of the twists, especially the aftermath of the limo (iykyk)

All in all, this is definitely a series I will continue despite its flaws. 3.5 stars.
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thewellbitch's review against another edition

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

4.0

Not usually my type of book but it really catches your attention and is very fast-paced so it's easy to finish. Will look for the next books in the series.
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ellanorte's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • 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

4.25

Wow, just... WOW. No me gusta la temåtica de superhéroes, pero este libro me ha encantado. Me costó un poquito entrar ya que la historia estå muy centrada en la venganza del protagonista y se me hacía muy cliché el asunto,  pero el world building + el sistema de magia + los diversos plot twist y la forma en la que Sanderson escribe, hacen de este libro una maravilla. No le pongo 5 estrellas por detallitos tontos. 
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joufancyhuh's review against another edition

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

5.0

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laguerrelewis's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • 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? It's complicated

4.0

I’ll be the first to admit it—This book did not appeal to me when I first heard about it. The premise of evil superheroes is just not my cup of tea, and I was worried this would just be another standard grimdark fare. However, Sanderson’s writing just has something about it that sets him apart. I enjoyed this book a lot—though the teen romance subplot was very annoying at first, and Sanderson’s descriptions of one of the female characters is awkward to read—and I will definitely be checking out the next installment. Basically, keep in mind this book was written almost a decade ago, but still tells a good story with interesting and loveable characters.
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