Reviews with content warning for Sexism - The Last Wish

For a male power fantasy, it's not a bad book. The lore is fairly interesting. I enjoyed the retelling of fairytales. I am sure I"ll continue reading the saga at some point.

But GOD, the absolute lack of sexual morals and the full objectification of women. WOW. Not only does this take place in a fantasy medieval period, it feels as though it was written in this period too. I'm going to need at least half a year to recover from all the misogyny.

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stwriter92's review against another edition

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adventurous funny

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I wanted to watch the series (I'm always late to the party) but I wanted to read a bit about the original lore first. I absolutely loved this book! I feel like it gave me a really good introduction to the characters and world of the Witcher. I'm always a bit apprehensive when starting a new fantasy (especially one that has as much lore as this one). However, the format of this book and the gradual introduction to each part of the worldbuilding and magic system made things a lot less intimidating. I adore Geralt as a character. He is so gruff and puts on this "I'm-only-in-it-for-the-money" persona. However, his actions continuously show that he has a kind and compassionate heart. I also really enjoyed the Slavic influences when it came to the world and the mythology surrounding it.

I look forward to continuing with the series!

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e_len's review against another edition

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The sexism.
It opens with an unneeded sex scene in the prologue, for no reason.
There is rampant sexim in this world, towards all women, even children, and no discussion about it.
The witcher has no characterization at all (up until page 100, where I DNF'd, because I know nothing about him and don't care about him at all).
Basic writing style.
Unlikable characters. The interesting ones get killed off immediately.
This is a pure male power fantasy. Women are clearly not the intendet audience and I should have taken the blurb from Playboy as a giant warning sign to stay away.
I'm so disappointed because I was all hyped up about it, too. And people told me, that no, there is no sexism, the witcher is so cool Liars. They were men, of course.

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padme's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book was a complicated one to review because I love TW3 and I've really enjoyed the Witcher on Netflix, despite its flaws. So many people have told me to check out the books, but I've always hesitated because I've also heard that the depictions of women in the books.... aren't great.

So I went in knowing what to expect. And I've got to admit, it was mostly a fun read! I liked getting more insights into Geralt and the other characters, and reading the original source material was really entertaining. But, unfortunately, the other side of it was also true. The female characters were not very well handled, which hampered my enjoyment as a female reader. I can see why guys (and plenty of girls) can read this series without any issue, but it took me aback after reading a lot of female-written fantasy novels over the past few years. There are sections of this book that are serious contenders for "she breasted boobily down the stairs" awards, not to mention the amount of unnecessary violence against women. Rape is mentioned in nearly every single one of the short stories, and that takes its toll on me mentally.

I have a lot more to say about each of the stories individually, but I think I'll leave it at this for now.

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