Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

6 reviews

victoriaaurora's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

My partner loves this book and wanted to share it, so I read it but unfortunately it’s just not my thing. 

Objectively, the character development is great and the author is clearly a skilled and talented writer. The story is well-crafted and there are some truly witty humorous elements, but I found pretty much all of the characters fairly anbhorrent! It just didn’t pull me in, I suppose. It’s definitely not a bad book, it just wasn’t the book for me.

I recognize that it is part of a longer, complex series and there’s probably a lot more to come in later books but the magic system and social structure was very dense, particularly for those of us who are only occasional dabblers in fantasy literature! If you’re the type of reader that enjoys really complex world building and dark themes, you’ll most likely love it!

It’s incredibly violent and I found the number of inter-connecting characters’ storylines difficult to keep straight in my mind, but that may just be because I had difficulty truly relating to the characters.

Some pretty problematic behavior towards women in the book, too, in case that’s a personal trigger which it was for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

sophieamreacher's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

Amazingly complex world and characters. Definitely the start of a series with lots of information and setting the scene but I’m really excited to dive more into this world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

the_night_reader_'s review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

cgrays's review against another edition

4.5

Vividly written, with an interesting world and characters. It's not for the faint of heart, however, and I think the harsh and pessimistic setting is too much to thoroughly recommend it to everyone. I enjoyed it, but I don't think I could ever read it again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and War

apiecalypsejen's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

5.0

The First Law trilogy is my favourite of the two trilogies that take place in this world. The characters are definitely flawed, each of them in their own way with not one of them being clear or free of some kind of barrier or encumbrance to you calling them your "favourite" without some reluctance or guilt (aside from

possibly Brother Longfoot

). This story sets up the next two books, which means it is a lot of establishing of relationships, characters, and the basis for the

journey/war

that comprises the second book. It's a great story about men in their 20s, and how they can be hardheaded and too arrogant, and where that can take them, as well as has two excellent and deep woman character in Ferro and Ardee. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Xenophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

Minor: Rape

13octopus's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Infidelity, Rape, Excrement, Trafficking, Cannibalism, and Death of parent