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13films's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
WE GOT THE MARTELLS OH GOD PRINCE OBERYN. RED VIPER VS THE MOUNTAIN. JUSTICE FOR ELIA MARTELL.!!!!!
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
lepulus's review against another edition
- 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
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
mattyvreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
In terms of plot, this book is much more interesting than the last, in my opinion. On the crazy shit scale, this book is about a 7/10. If I hadn’t watched the show first, I would have been open-mouthed and wide-eyed the whole time.
On a smaller scale, I love learning details about each character’s history. How each character’s worldview shapes their justification of war, or alternatively, desire for peace. Or even who slept with who or caused some great insult. It’s all very interesting.
I still struggle with this series, sometimes, though. The sexualization of children is incredibly graphic and those moments are often written in first person. Deeply unpleasant and incredibly uncomfortable. For those who defend the author’s sexualization of children — fuck off. Why? Isn’t there another way to adequately convey exploitation or abuse without having the reader engage with it in first person, in such an explicit way? It’s graphic and unnecessary, and pretty disgusting. I think the readers are smart enough to understand the plot with or without those graphic depictions.
I also think some parts of this book are coded a little racist. Hm…
Annnnywayyyy…… in terms of content, I think the good outweighed the bad parts of this book. I probably will read the next one.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and War
kyliereads341's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
samflowerv6's review against another edition
- 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
“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.
“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.”
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
theyannibannireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
But when we get story oh boy do we get story, every god damn storyline is exciting, dark and page turning 🔥🔥
Can't wait to read the next book shame I'll run out of them soon
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
earlc's review against another edition
- 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
It's a testament to Martin's characterization that I needed no refresher on who each of the main characters were and what they were up to; many of the minor characters (the Reeds, Gendry and Hotpie, Dolorous Ed, etc.) were also warmly remembered. There are a lot of great characters introduced in this book, like Mance, Missandei, and Oberyn, and we get to know others, like Sam and Jamie, better. No character feels redundant, each character is unique, a tremendous achievement with a cast this size. Every single viewpoint character grew and changed in really interesting ways, and Tyrion, Jaime, and Jon's internal struggles were among the most engaging and complex I've read in a fantasy book. Jon's relationship with Ygritte was especially heartrending, and Jamie's with Brienne surprisingly touching. Reading this book proved that "spoilers" are an exaggerated threat to one's enjoyment of a work. I knew (almost) all of the major twists going into this book, and each still surprised, thrilled, and horrified me.
Some minor criticisms: I thought Daenerys' chapters were good on their own (along with the world beyond the wall, Essos is fascinates me), but they broke up the flow of the novel. All of the other characters' chapters, to varying degrees, have some impact on another's; Daenerys is in her own story. I normally enjoy Arya's chapters, but she spent a lot of time wandering around the Riverlands and Reach with the Brotherhood, which wasn't always as engaging (Bran's chapters sometimes threatened to be long travelogues, but Myra's telling of the Crannogman's journey was pretty gripping); conversely, her journeys with the Hound felt cut short. Likewise, I thought Davos (one of my all-time favorite characters) didn't get enough attention, and I was surprised when he didn't get his own chapter at the end.
Nevertheless, this is high fantasy done so right. Definitely looking forward to the next two books, though I think I'll take a little more of a vacation; these books are a project.
Listened to the audiobook narrated by Roy Dotrice.
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Abortion
river24's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
This is a beast of a book!
It’s won its place as my favourite book in the series so far (this is the third) because it was so incredibly captivating from start to finish.
The writing is always so detailed and beautiful, I’m in awe of it !! I think it’s my absolute favourite writing style. The world is so rich and plentiful and I love discovering more and more of it.
There were so many twists and turns, every time you thought things would settle down again another twist struck you in the back of the head (in the best way possible)!!
I discovered a new all-time favourite fight scene in this book, it was written perfectly and was very emotive and powerful, too.
One of my favourite characters finally got a POV ! The characters are always so complex and fleshed out, with ever-changing morals and motivations. One of my favourite aspects of this book was the unexpected friendships and unlikely alliances of certain characters, seeing those unique dynamics was incredible.
I also loved learning more world and family history (I’m a big nerd for all aspects of world-building)
Every inch of this story was jam-packed with action and intrigue and I adored it!! It was very hefty (weighing in at almost 1200 pages!) but 100% worth it :))
Some of my favourite quotes were; ‘We are puppets dancing on the strings of those who came before us, and one day our own children will take up our strings and dance in our steads.’ ‘We look up at the same stars and see such different things.’
As a disclaimer, I do want to say that there’s obviously a lot you have to overlook in order to enjoy game of thrones and I completely understand that some people just aren’t able to do that. Please check trigger warnings before you read !!
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Cannibalism, Abortion, and Pregnancy
taylor29harty's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence