Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

13 reviews

chrisb913's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

I could not put the book down. I loved the characters (everyone except Jezal) with Logen being my favorite pov and Glokta being a very close second. I wish there had been a few more female characters introduced and portrayed, as well as more of the pov of Ferro (but the feminine rage in her chapters was fantastic and I cannot wait for more). Honestly my only complaint was the enormous amount of misogyny prevelant in the book along with the unnecessary fatphobia.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Slavery, and War

Minor: Rape, Vomit, and Cannibalism

beknoel's review against another edition

The book is written very well...but it's just not my cup of tea. I am very uninterested in Logen and his plot with the wizard. I LOVE Glokta, ok? I almost want to keep reading just for Glokta's sake, but my husband has read this whole series and told me

that Glokta never gets a romance plotline and that he ends up in a friendship-based marriage.

Ambercrombie... give the people what they want. 🤨 We want Glokta to f**k. When he had that dream

where he killed annoying Jezal and licked his blood off of Ardee's face

I was like 🥵🥵🥵. THAT is the book I want.

Also. I TRULY hate Jezal 🙄🙄🙄

To summarize: Abercrombie is a coward and won't let Glokta f**k. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Torture

nerdkitten's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Confinement, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, War, and Deportation

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Colonisation

lashette's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 This was better than good but not amazing? I am intrigued to see where this is going. No one is really likeable, but everyone is either relatable or understandable. I was into the story from the beginning though we are dropped right in, no explanation whatsoever. Following seemingly random people for no reason. But each character is written in a compelling way. I'm not burning with the uncontrolled desire to know what happens next but I am interested to know. Also, boy is this violent. Mind the trigger and content warnings. Some of it is towards the main characters and some of it by them. All are morally grey at least. Definitely could've done without all the fatphobia. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mikariah's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The world is nothing special (yet), mainly a list of names and references that make me imagine a somewhat more Westeros-esque shaped landmass of medieval Europe analogs (there is a place called Angland and a shapeless and unknowable 'North.' I mean, come on). If you're coming into it expecting something groundbreaking on that front, you'll probably not find it. Of course, there are many more books in this world, and I can't speak for what they all add to it. However, I found that the worldbuilding included enough things that kept it interesting enough for the story's purpose.

Because the thing that really sells this book for me is the characters.

And I can accept a LOT if the characters are great, which I believe that these are. Now, I'm a little biased because 'just-a-little-too-fucked-up' is exactly how I like my characters in the morning. Exactly. They are all problematic faves. Even the least terrible of them have some mess they're going through, and it sucked me in, which is good because there is not much plot to speak of. Yet.

The prose is straightforward and practical. Perhaps a little too much at times, and I wished there was less psychological distancing in the flow, but overall it read quickly and painlessly.

As a side note: the content warnings aren't necessarily expressing some sort of validation within the text. The characters are just... well, they have problems. And they experience problems.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Fatphobia, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Vomit, Cannibalism, and War

netflixismyroommate'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This book does what it sets out to do: tell a medieval fantasy war story. It’s just not attempting anything particularly original. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, War, and Classism

Moderate: Genocide, Mental illness, Slavery, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

Minor: Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

ellyra's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5 stars !

Loved it ! It is dark, gritty and fun and the characters are so compelling !

My favorites characters were Glokta and Jezal. I found Logen quite amusing in part 2 but it is not the type of character I am drawn too (I am bored by one to one fight scene and the gritty warrior type in general).

I think Glokta being a favorite is very much a popular opinion. I was not surprised by the fascination that the character would have on readers (considering his line of work) but I was quite surprised to find the emotional pull that he could have.

Jezal might be a much more controversial opinion to have as favorite : yes he is a privileged little shit but I found his POV so entertaining and fun and I actually ended up genuinely liking him by the end of the book.

I gave the book 4.5 stars in the end. I couldn't give it 5 stars no matter how much I loved it because there are some issues with it :

- lack of a general plot kicking in this book, it did feel like a prologue whose point was for the reader to get to know the characters and for the story to bring the characters were they needed to be in order to launch the overall  plot. However the characters were so compelling and there were enough actions and banters for me to be completely entertained. I am totally a character before plot kind of reader so no problem for me here actually but it would be to some.

- I wish there were another female POV other than Ferro which is certainly not the most relatable character for like... anyone. "I AM VENGEANCE ! KILL, KILL !" is not the most compelling personality. It would have been great to have Ardee 's POV for example (what did we got West POV, but not Ardee's ? The others POV make sense by the end of the book but that one, not)

- And here is my major issue with the book : the fatphobia. It was particularly strong in part 1.

Hopefully the next books will improve on these last two points.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia and Torture

strawberrypinch's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Suicide, Torture, and Kidnapping

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

theliteraryhooker's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Fatphobia, Vomit, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism and Racism

marthadude's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I feel like I can't really review the book on its own merits since it's part of a trilogy, but it's an excellent start to a larger story. It's more character heavy than plot heavy, but the characters are really fascinating. I'm very eager to start on book two and to see where things go.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Excrement, Vomit, and Cannibalism

Minor: Sexual content